Chaos Runs In The Family
by EmruasCat
Summary: An answer to the "Xander's real family" theme. Colonel Jack O'Neill just got a surprise. Life was interesting before, now it was just...well, pick an adjective.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: An answer to the 'Xander's real family' theme. Colonel Jack O'Neill just got a surprise. Life was interesting before, now it was just…well, pick an adjective.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens.

Chapter 1: Mad Scientists

"Excuse me?"

The other members of SG1 gulped audibly at the soft, pleasant phrase that had just come from their team commander, and backed away. Loud, boisterous Jack was never soft-spoken; on the three separate occasions that the rest of SG1 could remember Jack using that tone over a six-year period, it had meant BAD THINGS.

Thor, High Commander of the Asgard, had been present for two of those three occasions, and still heard horror stories from his fellows about the third time. So it was to his credit that the small gray alien did not back away as well – though it was a near thing.

"I said, one of my teams has recently completed a study of one of Loki's old laboratories-"

"Yeah, I got that," Jack interrupted, danger beginning to show in his voice. "Say the part after again."

"It would appear the clone known as 'Jon O'Neill' was not Loki's first endeavor involving your DNA."

Jack's hands, resting on the table he was seated behind, slowly curled into fists, knuckles cracking loudly. The colonel counted to ten slowly and silently, then repeated the process in Latin for good measure; some good had to come of having the language shoved down his throat. "Start. Talking. Thor." Each word was measured out slowly and precisely, and SG1 backed away further.

Thor talked. Rather swiftly for the small gray alien, General Hammond noted.

Apparently, twenty-three Earth years ago, Loki had noticed what Thor called "fascinating anomalies" in Jack O'Neill's DNA. The alien was rather vague as to how Loki obtained the DNA; Jack, at the time, was eighteen and just exiting Basic Training. Loki had initiated an artificial insemination into one newly-married Jessica Harris, resulting in a son, who Thor's researchers had discovered was named Alexander Lavelle Harris.

Jack winced visibly at the middle name, and Daniel mouthed "Lavelle?" with a horrified expression. Sam and Janet (SG1 had brought the medical doctor along in hopes of doing damage control, since Dr. Fraisier was the only female other than Jack's mother capable of shouting him down) were slightly more controlled, but still cringed in sympathy for the unknown boy.

Records had been kept meticulously for the boy up until he turned ten years old. Loki had apparently observed only; the boy had no idea of Jack's existence, or of aliens. At the end of those records was a brief note, stating only that a higher authority had ordered Loki to cease and desist any and all current and future projects regarding on Alexander Harris. There was absolutely nothing after that on the project.

"We have ascertained that no one on our ruling council or among our highest-ranked military gave Loki such orders. We do not know who or what stopped him." Thor paused, glancing towards General Hammond. "You and Hammond of Texas have told me on numerous occasions that most of the Tauri will not react well to the presence of alien life forms. I have instructed my researchers to NOT initiate contact with Loki's subject-"

"My SON," Jack interrupted, light flaring angrily in his eyes. "Alexander Harris is my SON, not a goddamned SUBJECT."

"Colonel," General Hammond reprimanded.

Thor returned Jack's hot gaze evenly. "There are those on the Council who wish to study Alexander Harris, as they do not have access to your clone. I thought it best to place this information on lock-down, as you Tauri say, and give you the choice, JackO'Neill, of how to handle this situation."

Jack was quiet for a long moment. Teal'c, who up until then had been silent, placed a hand on his shoulder. "Have you ascertained AlexanderHarris' current location, Commander Thor?" his deep, ever-calm voice rumbled.

"Until two years ago, Alexander Harris resided in Sunnydale, California, United States of America," Thor answered. Sam gasped, and everyone's gaze turned to her.

"Carter?" Jack asked sharply.

"Sir, that…the sinkhole in California…that was Sunnydale." Jack paled at the words.

"Alexander Harris avoided harm," Thor assured SG1. "He currently splits his time between: Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America; London, England, Europe; and various locations that show no steady pattern on the continent you Tauri refer to as Africa."

Hammond and SG1 were blinking. "What does…Alexander-" Sam said after a moment's hesitation and a glance toward Jack, "-do for a living?"

"My researchers did not inquire deeply into his activities."

"You don't know," Jack summarized.

"I can enact further inquiries if you wish, JackO'Neill."

"No," Jack said, rubbing his temples. "Look, just…keep the rest of the Asgard away from him, please." Jack O'Neill almost never said please – not and mean it, at any rate.

"I shall." Thor indicated the medium-sized folder in front of Jack. "I have destroyed Loki's information crystals regarding this project. This is what remains; I place it in your keeping."

"Thank you, Thor," Jack said through clenched teeth. The little gray alien vanished in a flash of light.

Dead silence reigned over the room for several minutes. Then Jack reached for the folder – and slid it over to Daniel.

"Jack?" the archaeologist asked blankly.

"Just give me a summary when you're done reading it. My head hurts too much to wade through Thor's mumbo-jumbo," Jack growled, finger still pressed to his temples. Daniel didn't argue; he just silently opened the folder and started reading.

Janet quietly left the room and returned with a six-pack of beer. Just as quietly, everyone took one, even General Hammond, who did not say a word about drinking on duty.

Daniel read for a good hour. During that time, Teal'c did a short kel-no-reem, Janet worked on back-up paperwork, Sam fiddled with some strange bit of machinery none of them could identify, and General Hammond pulled out his laptop to look over data brought back from the latest SG missions. None of them left the room for any length of time – the fierce loyalty and friendship Jack had earned from them all demanded it.

At one point, anger darkened Daniel's face, and he passed a certain bunch of papers over to Janet, instructing her in a tight tone to read them. Janet blinked, but obeyed, and the concern on her face gradually darkened to a fury that matched Daniel's. The others desperately wanted to know what was going on, but knew better than to interrupt Daniel's concentration.

At the end of the hour, Daniel put the folder down and swore softly and viciously in nine languages. When he was done, he said fiercely, "Better get a twenty-four pack Janet, we're gonna need it to deal with this."

Jack's knuckles cracked audibly again, and General Hammond sighed. "Stay where you are, Doctor," he instructed Janet, who had actually started to stand up. She sat back down, a grim look on her face. "Your…summary, Dr. Jackson?"

"Genetically, so far as I can make out, Alexander Harris is normal. You might have Sam verify that: genetics and microbiology aren't my fields of study," he said to Jack, who nodded. Daniel slid the relevant papers over to Sam, who took them and scanned them swiftly.

After a moment, Sam said, "While I would need more time to examine this work, I can cautiously agree with Daniel. This looks like it worked the way an artificial insemination would have – just sperm combined with egg. It doesn't appear that any…tampering was done."

"If he's normal, why are you pissed?" Jack growled.

"The medical records Loki kept on Alexander," Janet said quietly, her nearly-lost Cajun accent showing in her upset. "According to these documents, Alexander was in the hospital for various injuries thirty-three times by the time he was ten."

"Am I to infer by your tone that this is not normal, Doctor?" Teal'c asked.

"That's not even close to normal, Teal'c – unless Harris has an illness of any sort?" Sam questioned, praying for that to be the case.

Janet shook her head. "Not unless you count a case of seeming perennial clumsiness. The excuses given for the injuries vary, but they all boil down to 'oops, it was just an accident.'"

"No kid has that many 'accidents,'" Jack snarled, rage blazing in his eyes. "Why the fuck wasn't this reported to child services?"

"It would have been – except, according to these papers, Sunnydale had the highest death and injury rate in the United States, worse than New York, Boston, LA, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and New Orleans combined," Daniel informed his friend, his own voice shaking with his anger. "Alexander's injuries were overlooked because they were about average with the rest of the town's inhabitants."

"What you're saying, Doctors, is that this child grew up in apparently the most dangerous town in America (which we've never heard of except for the sinkhole), and showed a pattern of long-term abuse, which Loki did naught but observe?" Hammond asked tightly, angry on behalf of the child and Colonel O'Neill, who looked ready to explode.

"Yes, sir," Daniel bit out. "That's exactly what I'm saying." There was silence.

"Carter," Jack growled.

"Sir."

"Find him."

"Sir. May I have this?" Sam asked quietly, nodding at the folder. "It will narrow my search." Jack nodded at Daniel and Janet, and they slid Thor's papers over to her.

"Colonel O'Neill," Hammond began, then stopped. "Jack," he said gently. "When you find , what do you plan to tell him? This…situation concerns national security."

Jack stared off into space at something only he could see. "I've lost one son, George. If…there's a chance I could get to know this one…" His expression grew fiercely determined. "I'll figure out if he can be trusted with all this-" A wave of his hand encompassed the mountain, "and if he can, I'll tell him the truth."

"And in the meantime?" Hammond wanted to know.

"I'll tell him he's my son, that I didn't know," Jack said quietly. "I'll just leave out the whole mad-scientist alien part."

Hammond's mouth quirked in a wry smile. "You have several months' worth of leave saved up, Colonel. Let me know when you want some time off."

"I'll be using my leave as well," Daniel said firmly.

"Me, too," Sam agreed.

"I am interested in meeting the son of O'Neill," Teal'c put in.

Hammond frowned, but recognized the looks on all of their faces. Janet cleared her throat, and he scowled at her.

"Don't give me that look," the doctor said in a scolding tone. "You KNOW SG1. If I don't go with them, they're bound to get into trouble."

"Your presence won't stop that," Hammond pointed out. "NOTHING will stop that."

"True," Janet agreed, ignoring muffled protests from the team, "but I can at least stitch them back together again."

Hammond sighed. "I will grant you leave as well, Dr. Fraisier, on the condition that I can recall you at a moment's notice if there is an emergency."

Janet nodded – that was more than fair. "Agreed."

"Since when did I invite any of you to come on this trip with me?" Jack wanted to know. There was no real aggravation in his tone, just curiosity.

"You're family, Jack," Daniel said simply. "Family helps family." The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

Family. Two things occurred to Jack, and he turned to Hammond. "What about Jon and Cassie? If everyone's coming, no one can watch Cass, and Jon's – technically – Alexander's dad, too…"

"Let me find Alexander Harris first," Sam suggested. "We'll worry about travel plans once we learn a little more about him."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do. I don't own Haagen Daz, either – dang it.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens.

Chapter 2: Interfering Sisters

"Whatcha doin', Will?" Buffy wandered over, open point of Haagen Daz in hand.

"Mmm, double chocolate chunk." Willow stole Buffy's spoon and took a mouthful of ice cream. She swallowed, and said, "I'm hacking Area 52."

"Area whatsit?"

"The U.S. military uses Area 51 for weapons research. Area 52 seems to be…" clicking of keys, "scientific research and exploration teams."

"Okaaay. Why are you hacking 'em?"

"'Cause someone there's poking into Xan's records."

Buffy went alert. "Which ones?"

"They've already pulled all of his medical records. Now they're hunting for anything else they can find."

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "Is this the N.I.D. poking their noses into our business again?"

More clicking of keys. "No, this is the Air Force – they're not as known in the cyber world for blind stupidity as the Army and N.I.D. are. And there seems to be a number of civilians attached to whatever the overall project of this Area is, so it can't be totally power-seeking destructo world."

"Dr. Walsh was civilian," Buffy reminded Willow grimly. "Why Xander?"

"Not sure yet," Willow answered, hands flying across the keyboard. "Whoever's doing the inquiries is GOOD – I haven't managed to track their…originating…ah-ha!"

"What do we have? Whose arms am I ripping off for buggin' our Xander-shaped friend?" Buffy demanded, her protective instincts at the fore.

"Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force. Three very impressive PhDs to her credit, and she flew in Desert Storm. No arm-ripping, I think, but keep it on stand-by. I blocked out some of Xander's injuries in his medical record using United States government codes. When she realized her own government was blocking those files, she backed off, but…"

"Just knowing they're off-limits is going to cause questions we don't want to answer," Buffy said quietly.

"Yeah," Willow agreed just as quietly. "Major Carter just pulled Xan's school records – I couldn't block those out without causing undue suspicion...mmm."

"Was that a good 'mmm' or a bad 'mmm'?" Buffy wanted to know.

"I'd really like to meet the Major one day," Willow said thoughtfully. "She just hacked one of my encryptions and found my ISP."

"Wait – why'd she hack your encryptions? All that stuff's protecting the SWIC," Buffy said, her expression darkening further.

"Xander's current line of employment is listed with us because of the diplomatic immunity thing," Willow reminded the Slayer. "This lady's really good. She didn't get too far – I've got too many viruses and booby traps – but she did find one of my screen-names and an email." There was a beeping noise, and Willow clicked onto another screen. "She's emailed me, wants to know why I'm protecting Xan." Willow read further, and snorted softly. "She's trying to pull that whole 'I'm-the-big-bad-military-and-you-better-answer-or-else' jig."

"Can I type the reply?" Buffy wanted to know, a wicked light in her eyes.

Willow bit her lip. "Xander got mad the last time."

"He doesn't have to know," Buffy said persuasively. "C'mon, Will, you got to scare off the last government moron. 'M bored."

Willow hesitated, then dug out her cell-phone. "Call the U.S. President – it's speed-dial five. He told me my firewalls wouldn't be touched after the last debacle. Give the military a chance to deal with this – it may just be a single curious, talented person."

"You really believe that?" Buffy asked, hitting the aforementioned speed-dial.

"No," Willow said with a sigh, "But it's nice to hope. And Buffy, be respectful. He IS the President."

***

Daniel was the last to arrive at the meeting. "What's going on?" he wanted to know. "It hasn't even been six hours…"

"Sit down, Dr. Jackson," General Hamond said crisply. When he had done so, Hammond turned his attention to Sam. "Major Carter, I don't know who you tried to hack to find information on Alexander Harris, but you've stepped on some very important toes." When Carter opened her mouth, Hammond raised a hand. "I just received a phone call from the PRESIDENT, SG1. The person you tried to hack has the personal cell phone number of the President of the United States, and called him to find out why a Major in the Air Force was probing so deeply into Harris' background. The President has issued orders in no uncertain terms, Major: you are NOT to investigate Harris any further."

"Who IS this kid?" Carter asked incredulously.

"The president did not see fit to tell me very much," Hammond said shortly. "What he did tell me was this: Harris works for a group that has diplomatic immunity in every country in Europe, and as well as the United States and South America. These people are extremely dangerous and extremely overprotective of those that choose to work with them. Alexander is among both the dangerous and the protected. This group has had bad run-ins with the US Military: apparently, the Army poked its collective nose into something in the dark – as far into the dark as the Stargate program is – and this group was called in to pull THEIR asses out of the fire. The Army insulted, harassed, outright attacked, and tried to imprison members of this group, and these people still saved their, and hundreds of others, lives." Hammond ended his speech on a note of wonder.

There was a long silence. Then Daniel spoke, voicing the question all of them were thinking. "According to the birthdate on Loki's reports, Alexander is twenty-four years old. How on Earth did he become so deeply involved in a group that's more black ops than WE are?"

Eyes turned to Sam. "I was only able to pull his medical records and his school records, and all they do is produce more questions," she said, her frustration obvious. "His medical records show a pattern of severe abuse up until he turns eleven. It tapers off between his eleventh and twelfth year, and there are no hospital visits at all between the ages of twelve and fifteen. He went twice during his freshman year, once for a concussion and once for a broken arm. The visits increase at an alarming rate during his sophomore and junior years: he was in the hospital at an average of once every five weeks for a ridiculous range of injuries. His senior year they taper off again, only three visits. The next two years they increase again, with him being in the hospital at an average of once every two and a half months, with one very horrific injury standing out – he lost his left eye, it was ripped out of the socket." Horrified gasps echoed throughout the room.

"The official story behind that was that he was attacked by an insane mass murderer, and I found police reports to collaborate that. However, he checked himself out of the hospital as soon as he regained full consciousness, ignoring the protests of the doctors overseeing his care. He was back in a week later for multiple stab-and-slash wounds, four broken bones in his left arm, three cracked ribs, and a severe concussion that almost turned into a coma. At the same time, the mass murderer and his followers – a dozen or so people he'd gathered in a cult – were found tied up together in a nice, neat bundle, all unconscious due to blows to the head with a blunt object, and dropped conveniently on the very doorstep of the central LA police precinct."

"Why LA?" Daniel wondered.

"According to the police reports, the murderer had escaped from an asylum for the criminally insane located a mile outside of LA," Sam informed them. She continued, "Six months after that, Sunnydale became a sinkhole. Alexander was twenty-one. All of his medical records after that are locked behind firewalls so powerful I couldn't hack them." Silence reigned in the room.

After several minutes, Jack spoke. "I'm almost afraid to ask what his school records as like." The colonel's face was very pale, and his fists were clenched so hard the others feared he do himself harm. Somebody – several somebodies – had harmed HIS SON, and Jack was not a happy camper.

Sam sighed. "Elementary and middle school records are pretty average. Solid B average in junior high, but three instances of fighting are noted, though in all three Alexander acted in defense of another, a Willow Rosenburg. There's a note in the record that although Harris most often ignored verbal and physical bullying aimed towards him, he would not tolerate any abuse aimed towards this Willow."

"Girlfriend, then?" Jack murmured, pleased with his son's actions.

Sam shook her head. "It was noted as a curiosity in his record that although they were closer than most couples, he never actively dated her. The school counselor seemed to think it was a bond of siblings, not a romantic one." She continued, "His grades drop significantly halfway through his freshman year. He had a solid D average through the rest of his high school career, with outstanding attendance in detention, which seems to be the only thing he showed up for on a regular basis. Most of his detentions were for skipping and unexcused absences. According to the records, the only reason he passed at all was because he received extra tutoring from Willow Rosenburg and the school librarian, one Rupert Giles. Willow Rosenburg actually had the highest GPA of the graduating class, but turned down the offer of valedictorian. Oh, their high school exploded on their graduation day."

"WHAT?!" came the united explanation of everyone in the room.

***

"Oops."

" 'Oops'?" Buffy repeated, looking over from the punching bag that had been set up in the library. A lot of the baby Slayers in London – following Buffy's example – had made friends with what had been dubbed, courtesy of Xander, the Watcherettes: the researchers and teachers that the various Scoobies and Fang Gang members had introduced to the vampire/slayer world and brought to the four major schools established to train the Slayers Willow had awakened. As a result, a few pieces of work-out equipment had found their way into the main library on London's campus, and a few bookshelves had found their way into various training rooms for the Slayers.

"I forgot to lock-up the records on the high school explosion. That Air Force Major found them."

Buffy frowned. "Can they get us in trouble?"

"No, all the Major found was the official version. Still, I'd better…" Finger tapped on keys a moment. "There. No chance of the Major finding anything but the official version now."

Buffy glanced toward the clock. "The President said he'd call back to let us know what's the what. It's been almost two hours since we called him."

"This is the military – chain of command," Willow reminded her. "We'll give him another day, then I'll start the serious hacking into THEIR projects. I'll set up some extra security for the SWIC in the meantime."

***

"If I give the President the real reason you want all of this information, he may be able to persuade Alexander's protectors to allow us to contact him," General Hammond said quietly.

Jack hesitated, torn. He wanted badly to contact his son, and find out WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON, but didn't want to place him in the danger that would result from the information leaking. And it would leak: if Thor's papers were faxed to the President's office, N.I.D. operatives would get ahold of them. "Let me think about it."


	3. Chapter 3

A few notes: I have tampered with the timeline from Buffy just a bit. A good deal of what Sam did find has been heavily "doctored" by Willow – she just made changes that wouldn't be obvious, but would be more easily explainable. As plot develops, it will explain why Willow made the changes that she did.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens.

Chapter 3: Xander's Bodyguard

Xander sat in the main lobby of Cleveland International Airport, waiting for the taxi that would take him and two others to the Jenny Calender School for Gifted Girls. He was exhausted, having not slept in the past – he glanced at the digital clock on the wall nearby – sixty hours and counting. He was looking forward to collapsing on whatever bed/couch/chair was designated as his and just passing out.

The three-year-old child that occupied his lap stirred sleepily. "Unca' Xan?" she slurred tiredly, not quite awake.

Xander pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Hey, baby girl." He glanced to his blind side, where a seven-year-old Slayer sat, dark wild eyes fierce and alert. "Ari." That fierce gaze focused solely on him. In her dialect, he asked her, "Are you well?"

That fiery gaze turned inward for a moment, then refocused on him. "I am bored. I do not like this place." Each word was carefully and crisply enunciated, her care coming from the fact that the African Slayer hadn't spoken a human tongue in over two years.

Xander glanced at the wall clock again, then answered her in her own dialect – she didn't speak more than a few broken words of English, so he had become fluent in her birth tongue out of necessity. "We will leave soon."

"To your…school?" She used the unfamiliar English word cautiously, unsure if it was the right one.

Xander began to nod, when his mojoed-specially-by-Willow cell phone chimed. He frowned: that wasn't a ringtone he recognized, which could mean…any number of unpleasant things. He dug the device out of his carrysack, looked for an originating number, and sighed: it was a private call. He flipped open the phone, and said, "This is Xander."

"Xander, this is Jack Ryan."

Xander stiffened, recognizing the voice from prior meetings and phone calls. "Mr. President," he said, keeping his voice low in caution and his tone calm so as not to alarm the children. "What can I do for you?"

"Have either Ms. Rosenburg or Ms. Summers contacted you in the last twelve hours or so?"

Xander could feel a headache building, and rubbed his temples. "Which of the Ms. Summers are you referring to, Mr. President?"

"The elder."

"Then, no, I haven't spoken to either of the two ladies you mentioned in about a month…and when I spoke to the younger Ms. Summers, she did not make mention of anything that would prompt you to call me." Dawn had called to gossip about some of the baby Slayers in London's latest doings, and to find out how some of her friends at the African-based Slayer school were doing.

"Ah." The President sighed, then said, "Ms. Rosenburg caught a Major in the United States Air Force trying to snoop through the records the SWIC has blacked-out. Specifically, the Major wanted everything she could find on YOU, Xander."

Xander's headache increased in strength. "What does the Air Force want with me, Mr. President?"

"The impression I received from the Major's commander, General George Hammond, was that Major Carter was acting on behalf of her team leader, who wishes to contact you. I did not inquire as to why that leader wishes to speak with you, but the Air Force itself is not involved. Just Major Samantha Carter and her team leader, Colonel Jonathon O'Neill. Do you have any idea as to what those two might want with you, Xander?"

Xander began hunting for the migraine medication he knew was somewhere in his bag. Ari tugged on his sleeve. "What want?" she asked roughly in her clumsy English.

"A moment, Mr. President," Xander said distractedly. In Ari's dialect, he said, "Small blue bottle," holding his thumb and forefinger apart to indicate size. She nodded and started digging. "Sorry, Mr. President. No, I've no idea what they'd want with me, I've never heard of them."

The toddler tugged on Xander's hair. "Unca' Xan, wan' down," the three-year-old said.

Xander eased the child to the floor. "Stay with us, Joy," he cautioned her, then returned to the phone call. "I would assume there's a reason you're calling little ole me about this personally, Mr. President?" he drawled.

"Indeed." Xander could hear the dry humor in the man's tone. "Xander, the project Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are involved in is extremely black ops – as much so as your group is, and more so in many ways. Both of these soldiers don't have any…extracurricular activities that they'd be able to associate your name with, so your name had to crop up during one of the…activities that go on in that project."

Xander's eye narrowed. "It would help, Mr. President, if you could tell me what project your two people are working on. I might be able to tell you how they've heard of me."

"I can safely say that what the colonel and major are working on has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with what the SWIC handles, Xander," the President said firmly. "Beyond that, it is a matter of international security, and as such I cannot discuss it over the phone."

International, not national. Xander cursed silently. This was Big, and he did not in any way, shape, or form want to deal with Big. Ari handed him the tiny bottle one of Xander's shaman friends in Africa had given him. He popped a tiny capsule in his mouth and swallowed it dry. "I'm sitting in the lobby of Cleveland International Airport with a seven-year-old S – girl, and my three-year-old niece, Mr. President. What would you have me do about this situation?" His headache eased as the African shaman-created medicine kicked in, and he gave Ari a grateful smile, silently wishing blessing upon the shaman.

"If you could call Ms. Rosenburg and Ms. Summers and ask them NOT to rip the arms off of any of my people, I would greatly appreciate it," the President drawled. "As far as my colonel is concerned…may I give him the phone number for your Cleveland School?"

May I. The President of the United States was asking him politely about communicating with an Air Force colonel. Xander could feel his headache coming back. "Yes, Mr. President." A call from the entrance drew his glance. Andrew – the Cleveland School's "taxi" service – waved at him. "My ride is here, Mr. President. I would greatly appreciate it if you could ask your colonel to give m twenty-four hours; I haven't slept in three days."

The President knew from Xander's rare, serious tone that the White Knight needed the break badly. "Of course, Xander. Thank you for being so cooperative. Enjoy your rest."

***

The President gently disconnected the speaker-phone call, then focused his gaze on SG1. "I will give the four of you the phone number for the Jenny Calender School for Gifted Girls. Of the people that run the SWIC, which owns said school, Alexander Harris is the most reasonable when it comes to dealings with the United States government. I would prefer that relationship MAINTAINED," he said with force.

"Yes, sir," was quietly murmured by all of the team.

The President looked directly at Colonel O'Neill. "Colonel, I'm not going to ask why you want to contact Xander. I will, however, give you a few warnings. The two ladies I mentioned on the phone are extremely over-protective of Xander. Do not anger him, or you will find yourself on the receiving end of their wrath – and believe me, that wrath is not something you want directed at yourself, though it is impressive to watch from a distance…the safety radius of a nuclear bomb, perhaps," he muttered, wincing from past recollections. "Secondly, when Xander is not exhausted and surrounded by small children, his sarcastic sense of humor is worse than yours." Now Jack grinned, and the rest of SG1 and General Hammond and Dr. Fraisier cringed. "Thirdly, do not underestimate him. Xander behaves like a normal teenager-twenty-something with a strange sense of humor and a typical Californian disregard for the English language. On the other side of the token, when he deals with the government, he does not suffer fools or those who are overly condescending to him and his. If I recall correctly, he met Senator Kinsey once: they hated each other on sight." Now all of SG1 was smirking; even Teal'c had an amused tilt to his lips. "Here is the phone number. Keep it to yourselves; it's unlisted for a reason." The President sighed, and stood up, causing everyone else in the room to stand as well. "Good luck, ladies and gentlemen."

***

Xander called Willow in the car. Before she had time to squeal in excitement, he blistered her for getting in his business without telling him, and hung up and dialed Buffy's number, letting her have it as well. When he was done snarling, he turned his cell phone off and leaned back, closing his eye. "Sorry you had to listen to all of that, Andrew," he murmured to the geek.

"S'okay," the boy's hesitant voice answered. Xander was one of extremely few to treat the ex-evil geek with any measure of, well, decency, and as such there was little Xander could do wrong in his eyes.

The drive to the school was largely silent – which was creepy, because it was ANDREW, but Xander was grateful for it, as he had another headache. When they reached the school, Xander was besieged by high-pitched squeals, babbled greetings, and bone-cracking hugs. Most of the Slayers in Cleveland were girls he'd found and/or fought with at Sunnydale. Thus, he always got an enthusiastic greeting.

Joy squirmed in his arms, and he obligingly put her down. She scampered on unsteady legs toward the main entrance of the large four-story mansion, shouting happily, "Mama!"

A darkly beautiful woman moved into the sunlight, her every sleek movement screaming *predator* and *sex*. Xander smiled fondly as he watched her lift the toddler into her arms. Four years ago, if someone had told Xander that Faith, the infamous Dark Slayer, would willingly hold a squealing three-year-old, he would have asked where they had gotten their bad batch of crack. Than again, Faith did love to do the unpredictable, so maybe…

"Hullo, Boy-toy," Faith's rich purr broke into his musings. "Who's your shadow?" Ari had taken Xander's hand as soon as they had gotten out of the car, and had yet to release it.

Xander pulled his hand from Ari's and placed it on her shoulder. "This is Arishala Kendroshan," he said quietly. Dryly, he added, "She's decided I'm hers, so she'll be staying with me until further notice." In Ari's tongue, he said to the African, "This is Faith. The demons call her the Dark One. This Hellmouth is hers."

Feral, wary eyes met eyes that were equally feral and danced with eternal dark amusement. Ari stepped in front of Xander without breaking eye contact with Faith. In her halting English, the African told the Dark Slayer, "Xander mine. You hurt, I kill." The words were spoken slowly, but with utter determination, and Xander sighed.

Faith looked the child – no, small Slayer, over carefully, then smiled slowly, baring all of her teeth. "You'll do," the Dark Slayer purred, and Xander rolled his eye, following Faith into the house.

Author's note: Faith's presence will be explained soon. She isn't just randomly there.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neil, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens.

Author's Note: Thank you to the reviewers that pointed out similarities between my Ari and a character of Lisa Roquin. I actually hadn't read that story of hers yet, so any resemblance between my character and hers is *completely unintentional*. Besides, the instant I read the review, I went to the story. I LOVE Lisa's stuff, and if I have offended her by having a character with a similar background, I'M SORRY!! I really didn't mean to do it. Besides, my Ari will have A LOT of in-depth characterization, out of necessity: it will be very important to plot later.

Chapter 4: Ari Doesn't Like Strangers

"XANDER!!"

The White Knight jolted awake, rolling instinctively into a fighting crouch –

-or at least he tried. Xander had fallen asleep in a hammock strung up in a corner of the massive walled-in backyard of the Jenny Calender School, which meant when he rolled his legs got tangled in the ropes, ending in him being sprawled awkwardly on the ground.

"What?" he called crossly.

"Phone!"

Muttering things under his breath that were decidedly not polite, Xander trudged to the house and took the phone from Janie, a fifteen-year-old Slayer he'd found two years ago that treated him like a beloved older brother. "This is Xander," he said tiredly into the phone. "Sorry about the annoying fifteen-year-old parasite screeching in your ear."

"Hey!" Janie protested.

A chuckle sounded on the other end of the phone. "Why a parasite?" a rough baritone asked interestedly.

"She latched onto me, and won't let go," Xander explained. Several shouts of his name had him sighing. "And she MULTIPLIED," he grumbled, garnering another snicker from his caller. "I'm on the phone!" he called into the house. "Bug Faith about it!" Pain in his temples once again had him heading for his bedroom, where the African medicine was. "So, what can I do for you, mister…"

"Colonel. Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force."

Xander paused, then spoke. "You're Major Carter's commanding officer?"

"…That's me."

"So what do you want, colonel?" Xander asked bluntly, not feeling like dancing around.

"I…look, kid, it's something I need to talk to you about face-to-face." The voice of the colonel sounded tired, and uncomfortable. "The President – and I'd love to know how you know him – said you're cleared for knowledge about the program I'm with, but I can't talk about it over the phone – and I HAVE to explain it to you to explain why I'm buggin' you to begin with."

"Where in Cleveland are you?" Xander asked.

"What makes you think I'm in Cleveland?" the colonel asked suspiciously.

"The same way my…colleagues knew your major tried to illegally hack into an international corporation with diplomatic immunity in over a hundred countries," Xander said with more than a little acid. His own records he didn't particularly care about, as Willow had them so defended, but the records of the baby Slayers were what was under the code the major had tried to attack. It was a guess, that the colonel was in town, but if he wanted to meet…

The colonel sighed, his bluff called. "The Grand," he said grudgingly.

Xander raised his eyebrow as he sat on the edge of his bed. "The Air Force must REALLY like you," he drawled. "You know where Cloe's is?"

"The coffee place? Haven't been there yet, but two of my geeks stopped by there this morning, and I watched them have an orgasm over the stuff."

The muffled, "Shut up, Jack!" made Xander snicker. "Meet you there tomorrow morning, say nine o'clock?" he suggested.

"Sure…but I won't be able to talk about the program in public."

"I know," Xander said evenly. "I want to see who I'm talking to."

There was a short silence, then the colonel said quietly, "Fair enough. There's three others with me, I'd like you to meet them."

"So I'll see the four of you tomorrow," Xander said agreeably.

***

"Heeey, Boy-toy."

"Yes, Faith?" Xander grunted.

"Big Boy over there's settin' off our spidey senses – and SHIT, I been spendin' too much time wit' you damn comic book geeks."

Xander grinned, even as he struggled to keep a grip on Ari, who was not taking a supposed threat to her Xander well. Nope, judging by the feral snarls and creative death threats in her native tongue, Xander would have to say she wasn't taking it well at all. He winced at a particular pithy phrase. "Hey Faith, a little help? Mere mortal here."

Faith snorted, but gripped Ari by her upper arms, allowing Xander to circle around and clasp the child's face in his hands. "Ari, STOP," Xander said sharply. She glared hotly. In her tongue, he said, "The stranger has offered no challenge, and he stands next to warriors of this country's government. Do not attack him."

"He does not belong," Ari growled.

Xander sighed, and repeated – carefully not in English, "Do not attack him." He held her gaze until a very grudging acquiescence flickered in her eyes. He sighed again, and straightened up from his crouch. "Faith, do me a favor and take Ari to the café next door, yeah? And don't feed her any sugar, she's high-strung enough."

The Dark Slayer eyed the four strangers, not bothering to hide her mistrust. "You sure 'bout that, X?"

Xander looked his visitors over sharply. No visible weapons, but that didn't mean anything where special ops was concerned. The way the gray-haired man stood made SoldierBoy from Xander's Halloween memories stand up and shout about black ops and enemy assessments. The powerfully-built black man set off Xander's oogly-boogly radar as much as Ari's, but he was standing quietly behind the gray-haired man in a stance that was non-combative. The younger man with glasses and the blond woman both wore expressions of wide-eyed fascination, and Xander sighed internally, recognizing nosy geeks when he saw them.

"Yeah, Faith." He turned his attention to Ari. In her tongue, he said, "Go with Faith."

Ari was a fast learner, and had picked up several new phrases from Faith in the two days that had passed. Now her response was short, to the point, and in English. "Like hell." Xander glared at her, and she glared right back. "You my –" She used a word in her tongue that had no literal translation in English. It was a mixture of teacher, guardian, warrior, brother, and friend. "I not leave you."

"Why me?" Xander asked the sky outside of the coffee shop.

Faith sniggered, then tapped the child on the shoulder. "Xan can take care 'o himself," she told the small Slayer, and Xander translated. When Ari opened her mouth to object, the Dark Slayer went on, "An' if he gets hurt, the ones that did the hurtin'll deal wi' ME." The soft, deadly savagery in her tone was unmistakable as she dragged her gaze over the visitors. Xander saw four spines stiffen in response to the very real threat, and sighed: obviously, these four people were better than the average military, who tended to ignore threats from the women around Xander until they actually proved their points painfully.

"Subtle, Faith, real subtle." He looked down at Ari, and pointed toward the café next door. She glared for a few more moments, then stalked away. He looked at the smirking Dark Slayer.

Faith sauntered into his personal space, sliding her arm around his waist and curling her beautiful, deadly body into his for a moment. "If y' need me, just scream like a girl, Boy-toy," Faith purred, nuzzling into his throat.

Xander rolled his eye. "Yes, Faith. Now git." The Dark Slayer nuzzled him a bit longer, her glaring eyes sliding once more over the four strangers, then she released him and strolled lazily after Ari.

Dead silence.

Xander looked at the girl behind the counter of the coffee shop, who was grinning. "Hey, Sarah. I'll have my usual and a double chocolate brownie, okay?"

"Fixed your white chocolate mocha with extra espresso as soon as I saw ya walk in," the girl said cheerfully. "You want that brownie heated up?"

"Please." Xander took a sip of his extra-large drink and sighed again, this time in gratitude. "You are a goddess, Sarah."

"I know." The girl grinned, and exchanged the brownie for a twenty. "Here ya go, babe. Got a girlfriend yet?"

"Nope. How 'bout you?"

She sighed dramatically. "Nope, no girlfriend for me, sorry to say."

Xander grinned at her. "Yeah, your boyfriend might have something to say about that."

"Nah, he's been askin' me the same question," the girl shot back, and Xander laughed appreciatively before turning to face the people he'd agreed to meet.

"Well," he said awkwardly. "There's a semi-kinda-not-really private booth over there that's big enough for all of us."

"Cool," the older man said easily enough, and they all trooped over to the booth, since the other four had gotten there before Xander and had already gotten their orders. Xander noticed the delicately-cradling way the blond woman and the man with glasses held their coffee, and suppressed a grin: these must be the geeks the colonel had mentioned on the phone.

"So," Xander drawled. "I might be going out on a limb here, but you may have guessed I'm Xander Harris."

"Yeah, we just got it – just barely," the gray-haired man drawled back. "Jonathon O'Neill. I go by Jack." Xander raised an eyebrow, wondering why an Air Force colonel was being so easy-going, but shook the proffered hand. The colonel's hand was callused from long, hard work, and had a good firm grip without being too strong.

"This is my team," the colonel said. "Dr. Daniel Jackson, Major Doctor Samantha Carter, and Murray."

"Just one name, like Madonna?" Xander wondered.

"I've always thought he was more of a Cher, myself," the colonel said with a smirk.

"Jack," Jackson said in an aggravated tone that sounded very familiar to Xander.

The White Knight smiled. "So what are you a doctor of?" he wondered.

"He's got four PhDs," Jack said in a proud tone as the younger man looked uncomfortable. "Linguistics, Ancient Languages, Archaeology, and Anthropology."

"Cool," Xander said admiringly. "What was your concentration for the languages? The two men I know that have doctorates in that focused on European-based languages."

"Ah, Middle Eastern, actually," Daniel answered, startled. "Can I ask who your friends are?"

"Rupert Giles and Wesley Windham-Price," Xander answered readily.

"I've read some of Windham-Price's work," Daniel said, brightening. "He has a fascinating take on how the Romans' mythology grew out of the Greeks, but was also influenced by-"

"Danny, let's not get into all that," Jack cut him off hastily.

When Daniel gave his commander an offended look, Xander said quickly, "It's probably better if you don't try to get into that stuff with me. Giles was my high school librarian, and I spent a lot of time with him, but I think I only absorbed some of his lectures through osmosis." He flashed a crooked smile. "I wasn't *consciously* listening, after all."

The colonel shot him a look of patent understanding, and Dr. Jackson actually rolled his eyes. Xander's smile broadened. Yeah, this linguist reminded him of someone.

"Sooo," Xander drawled after taking a sip of his coffee. "I take it the President warned you."

"Warned us about what?" Carter spoke up for the first time.

Xander shrugged. "The eye. The whole my being a twenty-something kid thing. The fact that I have bloodthirsty women following me around to keep me safe. The fact that I babble when I'm nervous or excited or upset or just bored and feel free to stop me any time now…" Xander trailed off sheepishly, seeing the amused looks on three faces. The black man's face expression remained serenely calm – and completely unreadable.

He leaned back in his seat. "Or," he murmured, "It could be the fact that I don't tolerate threats made to those that are under the SWIC's protection." His expression hardened, though his tone remained conversational. "Tell me, major, what do you know about the Jenny Calender School for Gifted Girls?"

"Not much," the blond woman said, her expression wary. "I know it's a private school run by your organization."

"So you didn't know the codes you tried to hack were protecting STUDENT records, not mine?" Xander asked, his tone now matching his expression.

The major blinked. "No, I didn't."

"The Jenny Calender School consists of children who are primarily from backgrounds of poverty and/or abuse." Xander's voice was very soft now, as he set his cup of coffee down and locked gazes with the woman. "A good third of those children are in hiding from their abusers. What do you think would have happened, major, if you had torn down the firewalls lilredwitch –" He used the screen-name the major had found, and her eyes flashed with recognition, "made more secure than Fort Knox?" The major remained silent when Xander waited for an answer, and he straightened in his seat. "You aren't the only hacker out there, major, and some of them won't back off just because the President tells them to. Several of the children have wealthy relatives that want the nasty family secrets to stay secret – which means getting the children back. More of the children-" He was glaring openly now, "have gifts and abilities that would place them in grave danger if a little organization known as the THRICE-DAMNED N.I.D. –" All of SG1 cringed in understanding, "got ahold of the records SWIC keeps."

Up until now, his tone had remained soft. Now, Xander's voice sharpened into a clearer, crisper tone that caught Jack's fierce attention. This tone was that of a commander, a seasoned field commander that didn't take shit and didn't dish it. "If you want my records, I'll fucking print 'em out and frame 'em for you. You will NOT endanger the children I protect again. Do I make myself clear to all of you?"

"As crystal," the major said softly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Harris. I honestly didn't know what was there."

Seeing the genuinely apologetic expressions on three faces – Murray's expression still had not changed – Xander leaned back again and sighed. "It's Xander," he said by way of acceptance of the apology. "Mr. Harris is my dad, and I am soooo not him." An expression of disgust briefly crossed his face at the thought. "Sorry about the rant, but these kids trust me, and the other SWIC top members, for a reason, and damned if I'll betray that trust."

"That is an admirable thing, XanderHarris. You need not apologize," Murray rumbled in a deep voice. Xander didn't recognize the accent. "May I ask you a question?"

Xander tilted his head a bit in curiosity. "Go ahead, but I don't promise to answer."

Murray nodded his acceptance of that, then spoke: "The child that accompanied you – why did she attempt to attack us?" Sharply indrawn breaths from his teammates told Xander that the question was not one they had wanted asked.

Xander regarded the large black man thoughtfully, gaze lingering on the hat that was pulled low over the man's forehead. "Ari – the girl – is extremely over-protective of me. I found her in Africa, surviving alone because her village had been slaughtered by mercenaries. As I was the first human being to treat her like a person instead of an animal in over two years, she became kinda attached to me. She doesn't take perceived threats to me well, since in her home country the traditional reaction to a threat was 'kill first and ask questions never.'" Xander sipped at his coffee, found it lukewarm, and set it aside.

"But we didn't offer any challenge or act aggressively," Dr. Jackson said, confused.

"She didn't see all of you as a threat. Just your friend Murray," Xander said without looking away from the black man.

"Murray's not a threat to anyone here," Jack said sharply.

Xander held the man's gaze a moment longer, and an acknowledgment passed between them. "I'll take your word for it," he murmured. "Well," he said, leaning back in his seat further lazily and abruptly changing the subject. "Now that the required threats and warnings are done, how are all of you liking Cleveland?"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do. I do not own anything to do with the Simpson's movie: again, I would have far more money if I did.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens. I HAVE decided that in keeping with my Xander's characterization in this story, he will not be included in any male slash pairing, period. That doesn't mean I won't be picking on someone else though…

Author's Note: Thanks to those that answered my question about Carter's rank. I'll stick with what one particular reviewer pointed out: in the actual series, Carter made a strongly-worded point of wanting to be called by her military rank. So, it'll be "Major Carter, PhD" from now on. Thanks again!

Oh, and to LadyFoxFire, who asked if Mr. Tony Harris was alive – why, yes, he is. Jack meeting him, you say? *Authoress tilts head to the side in thought, then smiles maliciously.*

Chapter 5: Judgements

They chatted for another twenty minutes or so, Xander making them laugh several times with his easy-going babble. He and Jack discovered a mutual fondness for the Simpsons, and made the others groan by singing – off-key – the "Spiderpig" song from the Simpson's movie, and by playing a trading quotes game to see who could come up with the most obnoxious lines from the television show.

The door chimed, and Xander glanced up, thinking it was Faith. It wasn't; it was three of the baby Slayers – Li, Anna, and Janie – out for some Saturday shopping, Li holding Joy in her arms.

Janie bounced over, clearly already on a sugar high. "Hi, Xan-man!" she chirped brightly, flinging her arms around his shoulders.

"Hello, Janie." Xander eyed the fifteen-year-old cautiously. "You're going to burn that sugar high off BEFORE you come home, right?"

She grinned at him. "Maaaybe. Or maybe not!" she said mischievously.

"Great," Xander drawled. Anna giggled, and Li gave a small smile. The Chinese Slayer's gaze hadn't left Teal'c since they'd walked into the coffee house, and she'd made no move to approach Xander, though Joy was squirming in her arms. Xander caught Li's gaze with his own, and gave her a miniscule nod. The Chinese girl's eyes slid sharply over the rest of the strangers, then her stance shifted just the barest hint, and she set the toddler on the ground.

The entire process of Xander giving the go-ahead and Li assessing the rest of the team – for what, threats? – took two or three seconds at most, but Jack hadn't missed it.

The little girl ran unerringly for Xander. "Unca' Xan!"

Xander's expression softened with warmth and love. "Hey, sweetheart. Having a girl's day out?" he asked, picking the toddler up and giving her a squeeze.

Joy hit Xander with a thousand-watt smile that always melted every being within fifty paces of her. "Yeppers!" she said enthusiastically to Xander's amusement.

"We are stopping by Ryan's place in a little while," Li said in her quiet, barely-accented English. Of all the Slayers in Cleveland, Xander often thought this one could do just as well as a Watcher. She spoke six languages flawlessly and was well on her way to learning her seventh; she also had more of a fondness for the school's library than the exercise rooms. "I thought I could get her a set of throwing stars, as Faith asked me to start her in the arts."

"That's a good idea, Li." Faith and Ari had re-entered the shop, Ari heading straight to Xander's side. "I'll come with you, get Ryan t' line 'em with silver without screwin' the balance or the edge on 'em." The Chinese Slayer nodded in acquiescence.

Jack couldn't stay quiet any longer. "You're gonna give a two-year-old –"

"I'm tree anna haf!" the toddler objected.

"My mistake," Jack said sardonically. "You're gonna give a toddler actual weapons? I've BEEN to Ryan's – he don't sell fakes."

"Well, duh," Janie said with a role of her eyes. "Fakes would kinda defeat the purpose."

"What purpose-"

"A girl can never have too many sharp objects," Faith said lazily, her street-tough accent abruptly missing. "And since she's not your kid, it isn't any of your business."

"She's a baby! Don't you know what kind of DANGER-"

"SHE'S sitting right here," Xander said abruptly. "Joy is Faith's daughter, Colonel O'Neill. Both Faith and Li-" he nodded to the Chinese girl, "have obtained a mastery from accredited martial arts schools. If Faith wants a fellow master to teach her daughter a way of defending herself, it's her business. Leave it alone."

"That girl can't be more than seventeen," Jack said in disbelief. "You expect me to believe that a ranking that takes Navy SEALS years to obtain –"

"I began my training when I was two years old," Li said quietly, stopping Jack in mid-sentence. "My family is one of ancient tradition. Joy is late in starting by their standards. I certainly am not going to put her through the trials MY family had me run. It would be considered illegal in this country, I think."

"Yeah, definitely illegal," Xander muttered with more than a little anger. Li was one of few who did not consider her family background to be bad: indeed, she considered herself honored and lucky. Xander begged to differ, after hearing about Li's childhood – or rather lack of one. Li wasn't Called as a Slayer until she was fourteen; by then, she knew more about fighting than Buffy did by her senior year of high school. The knowledge was invaluable to her now, and Li was one of few that were Called by Willow's spell that needed very little training. All Willow had had to do when she found her on a trip to Hong Kong was point her in the direction of the demonology dictionaries. Li had learned in one month what other baby Slayers were still studying after four years. She was undeniably one of the best, ranked with Faith and Buffy, but it still pissed Xander off to know that the reason she had that ranking was because all desire for any "fun" had been trained out of her at an early age. Lack of demon-killing experience alone was all that kept her from being an equal to Buffy and Faith; when Willow had brought her to America, she too had seen that Li did not know how to be a teenager. She had, therefore, placed Li with the less experienced baby Slayers, in the hopes that the more "normal" teenagers could teach her how to relax. Xander's playful Janie was having some success in that.

Jack opened his mouth again, but Daniel touched him on the shoulder. "Jack, he's right, it's not our business." As Jack began to object, Daniel hissed "YET" in his ear.

Jack scowled ferociously at the archaeologist, and was abruptly tired of sitting around making small talk. "Are you gonna let us talk to you about our program or not?" he demanded of Xander.

In answer, Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, which had the school's name and an address printed on it – nothing else. He slid it across the table to the colonel. "Five o'clock this evening work for you?" he asked simply. "I've got some errands and work to get done."

"Fine," Jack growled. Xander glanced at the other members of the team, waiting for them to nod before standing up, Joy still in his arms.

"Comin' wit' us or stayin' wit' Xan, baby?" Faith asked.

The toddler smiled, reaching for Faith. "Comin' wi' Mama." Xander obligingly passed her over, and glanced down inquiringly at Ari. The African Slayer met his gaze, but made no move to leave Xander's side.

"I'll see you ladies later, then," Xander said briskly.

"Bye, Xander!" the teenagers and Faith chorused before trooping out the door.

Xander sighed. It seemed the meet-and-greet was over, from the way the team was standing up and edging out of the booth. "Five o'clock, then," he said in quiet farewell to the team, who collectively nodded at him. Xander placed a hand on Ari's shoulder and guided her out of the shop, calling a farewell to the girl behind the counter.

***

Back at the hotel, Jack looked at his team members. "Well?" he demanded.

"XanderHarris is a warrior, a skilled one. He was armed, and treated us with commendable caution." Teal'c, surprisingly – or not, was the first to speak.

"I caught the knife in his left pocket-" Jack muttered.

"A knife in each workboot, and a wooden stake tucked into the back of his pants," Teal'c said calmly, and Jack raised his eyebrows.

"A stake?" he muttered. "Who does he think he is, Van Hellsing?"

Sam spoke up then. "He's a heck of a lot more intelligent than he acts, sir," was her quiet opinion.

"Yeah, I got that, too," Jack muttered, glancing at her. The way Xander had raked her over for the hacking had been impressive, and had given Jack a hint of what Xander would be capable of in a command situation.

"He's a good man," Daniel said quietly, but firmly. "You all saw how he acted with those girls. He really cares about them."

"I'd REALLY like to hear the real story behind that little African girl. She acted like she was his bodyguard," Jack muttered.

"I didn't catch a whole lot – like, seven or eight words total – but from what I was able to guess she was threatening us quite creatively," Daniel said.

"You didn't have to GUESS to figure that out," Sam observed ruefully.

Jack nodded, then asked, "Am I the only one who felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise when that Faith woman warned us about hurting Xander?" The others shook their heads.

"I believe that woman to be extremely dangerous," Teal'c said. "Both she and the dark child, as well as the adolescent with slanted eyes and tanned skin, knew that I was not a normal human – and all three knew that the difference could be a threat to them."

There was silence as the significance of that hit the SG1.

"He mentioned that his group, the SWIC, has had problems with the N.I.D. I'd like to know what it is about their children that caught those bastards' attention," Jack growled, a dark glare crossing his face at the thought of the N.I.D. getting their claws into the laughing teens he'd seen this morning.

"They knew Teal'c was different," Sam said, her eyes gleaming with that mad-scientist curiosity Jack knew so well. "Maybe they've got some enhanced sense that allows them to notice things normal people couldn't guess."

Daniel shook his head. "If it was just a single kind of sixth sense, the N.I.D. wouldn't have caused the kind of trouble Xander implied. No, there's another reason the SWIC is so protective of their children that their firewalls are friggin' astronomically powerful. It has to be more than just…sensing."

Jack looked from one to another of his teammates, then sprawled on one of the hotel room beds with a large sigh. "My head hurts," he complained in his most plaintive tone.

Daniel titled his head at his best friend. "You liked what you saw of Xander, and now you're worried about him, and for him."

Jack was silent for a long moment, and the rest of his team focused their attention solely on him. "My gut tells me Xander is someone to be trusted – hell, the PRESIDENT says he can be trusted. Tonight, after we talk to him about the Stargate and tell him about…me, I'm going to get some answers about this. I want to know why my son moves with the wariness of a seasoned special ops fighter. I want to know why he doesn't seem to trust the military. I want…"

Daniel grinned crookedly. "You don't want secrets between the two of you. But Jack, his distrust of the military may be justified if he's protecting children with physical and mental abilities outside the norm. You, of all people, know what the United States military has been capable of. You can't demand things of him that he's not willing to give."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens. I HAVE decided that in keeping with my Xander's characterization in this story, he will not be included in any male slash pairing, period. That doesn't mean I won't be picking on someone else though…

Chapter 6: Great Googly Moogly

Around 7:30pm that night…

"Where the hell is he?" Jack growled. SG1 – and Dr. Janet Frasier – had been shown into a very nice sitting room in the enormous mansion when they'd shown up at five. The friendly teen who had let them in had explained that Xander had called to say he would be late, and would they like something to eat or drink while they waited?

A very scrumptious dinner later, they were still waiting.

A commotion from the entrance caught the team's attentions. The voices were muffled from where they were sitting, but the worry and concern was clear – and Jack caught several repetitions of Xander's name.

He moved to the doorway of the sitting room, and caught his breath. Xander, who was surrounded by babbling, worried teenage girls, looked as though he'd been in a street fight…no. Jack looked again, and felt anger flare. There hadn't been a fight – Xander had been worked over by a professional.

Xander put two fingers in his mouth and gave a piercing whistle. In the silence that followed, he said, "What do we say if Buffy or Willow calls, ladies?"

"Everything's five by five," came the united chorus back from twelve or so teenage girls.

Janie however, plainly upset, said, "Shouldn't we tell them, Xan? You know how they are when you get into fights…"

"Exactly," Xander said pointedly. "I KNOW how they are. And it looks to me like I've got plenty of lovely nursemaids." He poked Janie gently.

"But-" Xander placed a hand over Janie's mouth.

"It's just bruises and scrapes," he told her soothingly. His teeth flashed as he bared them in a grim smile. "The other end of the fight is worse off."

"They'd better be," came the softly snarled comment. Faith pushed her way through the crowd of teens. She reached out and ran her hands down Xander's shoulders, chest and torso – not caressing, Jack realized, but in the manner of medically assessing.

"They? What is this 'they' you speak of?" Xander asked in an innocent tone.

Faith's eyes narrowed into a menacing glare. "You gonna tell me ONE person did this damage?"

Xander opened his mouth, but the searing Glare of Death Faith sent him stopped more words from spilling out his mouth.

Faith's gaze flicked through the crowd gathered, and she snapped, "Clear out."

"But-" came several protests.

"NOW!" Faith shouted, and every teenager present fled.

Faith waited until she, Xander, and Ari – who was still attached to Xander's side and looked as pissed as Faith did – were alone in the hall before murmuring, "Gotta couple cracked ribs. No full breaks."

"Thought so," Xander muttered. "Check Ari. She chased after a couple of 'em. Colonel O'Neill and his friends still here?"

"Yeah kid, we're here." Jack said, stepping forward as Faith checked over the dark girl, who did not appear to have a scratch on her. "What the hell happened to you? You got cracked ribs, you need a doctor."

"By Zeus, I think I got worked over," Xander said in a bright, overly-amazed tone, before adding, "And no, I don't need a doctor. Where's the kit, Faith? My ankle's twisted."

"Your girl's good. Siddown, X. Gimme a sec to drive the mob off t' their bedrooms." Faith stalked out of the hall; she could then be heard bellowing orders at the anxiously loitering teenagers.

"I brought the doctor friend I told you about, Janet Frasier, with me," Jack began. Xander cut him off.

"I don't need a doctor. And I wouldn't trust her anyway."

"Why?" Janet asked, speaking up for herself as she moved to stand next to Jack and get her first good look at the young man they'd been told was Jack's son. "I'm good at what I do, Mr. Harris. It's why I've reached the rank and position that I have."

"I'll give you three guesses," Xander said shortly, moving towards the sitting room the other member of SG1 still occupied. He stopped before entering, and said, "Well?" in an irritated tone.

Jack took a look at how Xander was standing, and realized, *He's refusing to let us out of his line of vision.* "What the hell is going on, Xander?"

"Whatever the heck this program of yours is, colonel, it must be pretty damned important," Xander said softly. "The guys I ran into certainly seemed to think so. And isn't it convenient for a doctor to show up here NOW?"

Jack realized what was going through his son's head – or he thought he did. "Xander, whatever happened to you, I'll swear whatever oath you want that we had nothing to do with it."

Xander waited until Jack and Janet were back in the room before saying, "I know you had nothing to do with it directly. The entire attempted interrogation was supposed to be about how I knew you and the other members of…what was it?" he mused. "Oh yeah, SG1." All of the team members, including Janet, cringed. "You either pissed off someone who thinks he's powerful, or your program is a hell of a lot more dangerous than 'Deep Space Radar Telemetry' sounds." The team members looked at each other, knowing none of them had mentioned their – admittedly – flimsy cover story in Xander's hearing. "Unfortunately for your would-be bad guys, someone higher on the food chain didn't do their homework about me. They knew nothing about my fighting capabilities – or Ari's." Daniel and Sam's eyes both widened at that little addendum. "The men got away, but I sure as hell would like to know why I got beat up for meeting with you."

"Fuckin' straight," came Faith's low rich voice, still savage with anger. "Sit, X."

"No," Xander answered without looking away from SG1 – specifically, without looking away from Teal'c.

Jack saw where his son's gaze lay. "I told you he's not a threat," he snapped.

Xander matched his tone when he shot back, "Yeah, well, the rest of you are only human. He ain't."

There was a long silence. "Excuse me?" Daniel said finally. "I don't believe I under-"

"Your friend 'Murray' is not a human," Xander cut him off, enunciating each word clearly. "Can't get much clearer than that."

Jack opened his mouth to blast the young man with questions and demands, then stopped as Faith stepped squarely in front of Xander, twin daggers appearing in her hands like magic. The way she held them and the way her stance shifted told Jack that 'now was NOT the time.'

Jack swallowed hard in an effort to rein in his temper, his worry, and a general feeling of 'Oh shit, Hammond is gonna string us up by our balls.' "His name's Teal'c, not Murray. And I repeat, HE IS NOT A THREAT. He's saved my life and this world multiple times." The rest of SG1 and Janet stared at Jack like he'd suddenly sprouted another head.

Xander stared at Jack for a long moment, and Jack suddenly had the creepy feeling that Xander was looking at more than just his face. The moment passed quickly, but Jack, after years of chasing after Daniel and his crazy rocks, knew better than to ignore what had just happened. "Well, kid? Can we sit down and talk about this? And shit, if you ain't goin' to a doctor, then at least let one of your friends fix ya up – your Faith seems pretty competent."

Xander lips twisted in something resembling a smile. "Stand down, Ari." Only then did SG1 realize that Ari also held twin daggers in her hands, with the same competence as Faith.

Ari recognized the phrase for the command it was, frowned, but obeyed. She'd seen Xander use that particular capability before, and trusted the results – but she didn't have to like it, and showed this by moving very close to Xander and pinning the military strangers with her best glare.

"Faith?" Xander made the woman's name a question.

"…You get a good one?" Faith growled, making all of the visitors frown in bewilderment.

"Good enough."

Faith straightened up from her battle crouch and stepped to the side, but kept the daggers in her hands, twirling them slowly.

"Damn it, we're not holding weapons," Jack growled in frustration.

"Two guns hidden under your shirt, one under Dr. Jackson's, one under the major's, and two under…Teal'c's," Xander said quietly, stopping another word from coming out of Jack's mouth.

"A knife up at least one of each of the five of your sleeves," Faith added curtly.

"A weapon of some kind stuck into your boots – which are battle-issue, not reserve issue," Xander completed. "We've been screwed over one too many times by the United States Military, ladies and gentlemen. If you truly meant me no harm, why come armed?"

Jack glared. "I don't go anywhere unarmed, kid. If you don't like it, suck on it," he snarled. "I ain't changing survival habits to suit your delicate senses." Jack's patience was at an end.

To the shock of SG1 and Dr. Frasier, Xander actually laughed. "Now that was honest," the one-eyed man said thoughtfully. He turned his gaze toward Teal'c and, after a moment, spoke: "Swear on that which you consider most worthwhile that you mean no harm to humans, or to the beings that reside within this house."

*Beings?* thought all of SG1 save Teal'c in shock, immediately seeing what Xander didn't say: that not everyone in the mansion was human.

Teal'c tilted his head a little. "The god I swore by was false, and determined to enslave mankind. I have no family, and no wealth to speak of. I have little save my personal honor, which drove me to abandon the one who called himself my people's god. Will you take the oath of such a one?"

Xander tilted his head in much the same manner as Teal'c. "Does your honor hold you?" he asked simply, and the look that had so made Jack uncomfortable was intently focused on the large black man.

"Yes," Teal'c answered simply.

"Then swear by it."

"I do so swear upon my honor as a warrior and as a man that I mean no harm to the Tauri, or to any within this house, provided they do not offer threat to myself or those I consider my comrades," Teal'c said immediately, gesturing toward SG1 and Dr. Frasier at the last.

Xander nodded, and the power of his look was suddenly gone. "Well enough." He turned to Jack and abruptly asked, "So what the hell is a Stargate, and why did the morons who jumped me think I knew anything about it?"

***

Xander stared at the group. Stared at the papers in his hands. Resumed staring at SG1 and Dr. Frasier.

The entire explanation of what the Stargate was, some basic info about Teal'c, and explaining about the mad scientist known as Loki took roughly two and half hours. A lot was left out – like Daniel's Ascension and subsequent return to Earth. When Xander had finally been told that biologically, Jack was his father, he'd started staring. He hadn't stopped.

Jack shifted uncomfortably as the silence stretched out. "Look Xander, I know this is a lot to take in, and most of it's pretty unbelievable-"

He was interrupted when Xander started laughing. Quietly at first, small chuckles that soon grew into whooping laughter. Faith and Ari, who had been present for the entire discussion at Xander's insistence, stared at him.

"Yo X, I don't think they were joking," Faith said, wondering if the bastards who'd jumped her friend had hit him on the head.

Xander shook his head, gasping between chuckles and snorts, "Only me, Faith. Only I could have a different dad by way of an alien insemination. Only the Zeppo. God, I need to calm down, laughing hurts," he said, pressing his face into his hands and trying to smother his semi-hysterical laughter. Faith had wrapped his cracked ribs and sprained ankle during the explanation.

Faith's expression darkened at Xander's use of the nickname she knew good and well wasn't complimentary. "X, what're we gonna do about 'em?"

Xander dug his fingertips into his temples as a migraine hit him hard. "Ari," he said without looking up. The African girl knew what he needed and left the sitting room at a run.

Xander finally looked up after a few seconds to allow himself to get control of his chuckles. " 'Pretty unbelievable' describes the majority of my life, Colonel O'Neill. I…how do you want to deal with this? I'm an adult, I don't need a parent to make any decisions for me anymore."

"I had another son named Charlie," Jack said softly. "He accidentally shot himself with my gun. I…he would have been eighteen this year."

"I'm sorry," Xander said equally softly, and all of SG1 could see that he meant it.

"I…I'd like to get to know you, Xander. Just because Loki fucked around – no pun intended – with my DNA without my knowledge doesn't make you any less my son." Jack looked straight into Xander's gaze, wanting the young man across from him to see that he really meant it.

Ari reappeared in the room holding the small bottle Xander had brought from Africa. Xander opened the bottle and popped a pill in his mouth, sighing in relief as the migraine induced by his using his ability faded.

"X, what is that stuff?" Faith asked.

Xander grinned at her. "Really, REALLY good stuff," he said. At Faith's raised eyebrow, he amended, "It gets rid of the chronic migraines, Faith. I didn't ask the African shaman who made them for me what was in them, and I'm pretty sure I didn't want to know, anyway." Faith snorted at that. "Ari watched the shaman make them, so I know there's no addictive drugs in it." He shrugged, turning his attention back to Jack. "I…I'd like to get to know you, too." He blinked suddenly. "Hey, wait a minute. If you're my biological father, that means I'm in no way, shape, or form related to Tony Harris."

"Uh, yeah," Jack said, his eyes narrowing a bit at the mention of one of Xander's highly-suspected abusers.

Xander grinned gleefully. "'Scuse me a sec." He walked out into the hallway, where his jubilant, "THANK YOU GODS AND GODDESSES!!" was just as clear as it would have been in the sitting room. Xander walked back into the room with a noticeable bounce in his step, even with the limp caused by his sprained ankle.

Faith grinned at Xander, knowing full well that the miserable bastard known as Tony Harris was responsible for most of Xander's childhood abuse. "Hey X, that's good news, right?"

"The defective genes of Tony Harris have not been passed on!" Xander said in a tone of deep happiness. He turned to Jack, who was smiling crookedly at Xander's celebrations. "Sooo…what do I call you?"

Jack shrugged. "I'm not going to ask you to call me dad when you don't know me," he said simply, adding, "And it would feel weird to me right now anyway." Xander nodded agreement. "Jack is what my teammates call me when we're not on missions most of the time. You can use that, too."

"Cool," Xander said softly, then stuck out his hand. "I'm Xander, Jack. Nice to meet you."

Colonel Jack O'Neill, war hero and leader of the infamous SG1, bane of many Go'aulds existences, shook hands with Xander Harris, the One Who Sees and the White Knight of the Vampire Slayers. "Nice to meet you, too."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens. I HAVE decided that in keeping with my Xander's characterization in this story, he will not be included in any male slash pairing, period. That doesn't mean I won't be picking on someone else though…

Chapter 7: Cue the Darth Vader March

*beginning of dream*

"_This can't go on forever. Sooner or later, your strength will give way. And you'll be left all alone. Help is not coming."_

_The room was a cold one, both in temperature and in looks. Sheer gray stone walls, stone floor, with no visible door or window. Three lanterns burned with a yellow, flickering light, hung in opposite points of the vaguely square chamber. There were no decorations, no sign that it had ever been inhabited, save one._

_A stone chair, more of a throne really, stood on what could be considered the far side of the room - the side furthest away from the unsteady light of the lanterns. Heavy chains built into the arms and base of the seat bound its occupant securely. The chains had been there as long as the chair had - millennia - but they still shone as though they were newly forged._

_The woman standing before the throne was a tall, imposing figure, elegantly built. Her hair was a rich chestnut, cut just below her chin and fly-away. Her face was proudly beautiful, with sharp, proud features, graceful eyebrows, and a full red mouth. Her eyes, though, were the disturbing feature - dead black, a black that filled the entire eye, with no whites to speak of. Dangerous, compelling eyes, easy to drown in._

"_Do you still believe in those foolish values - loyalty, honor?"_

_The man's eyes flickered open for the first time, and he looked rather amused. "Foolish, are they? Who won the last battle, Power?"_

_He appeared to be in his early twenties - a man of great beauty. His hair was crimson and black; fine, dark eyebrows arched over black-lashed eyes that gave away the fact that he wasn't completely human: they were the rich crimson color of the rarest rubies. Tanned skin that never paled, never grew sickly under the influence of the dark chamber gleamed. At the moment, a mocking half-smile lifted the corners of the full mouth that gave his face a deceptively vulnerable look; his eyes showed no emotion._

"_You did, I believe. But who's sitting on the throne of imprisonment, Shadow Guardian?"_

"_Why do you call me that?" the man countered in a lazy tone. "I no longer have anyone to Guard."_

"_Do not attempt to play ME for a fool." The woman's lower lip curled. "Those whom you guarded are symbols, a means to an end. If you have not yet realized that, you are a greater idiot than I thought you."_

"_Your insults are unimaginative, Power." The man closed his eyes again. "You're beginning to bore me."_

"_Am I, Prince?"_

_The man's eyes snapped open, and his entire expression heated with anger. But when he spoke, his voice was cold, devoid of emotion. "I set aside that title, and all other claims, when I chose to accept the power of the Shadow Realms. You know this."_

"_You could not completely set it aside though, could you?" the woman shot back, having found the chink in his armor. "It is in your __BLOOD__, your love for the land your family was chosen to rule. You could no more look upon it with the distance the Shadow Guardians are supposed to show to all lands, than cut out your own heart. And there lies your flaw, Prince. You care too deeply about the people you were chosen to protect, in particular those of your own kind. You were tied too closely to it all."_

_The man laughed tiredly, once again closing his eyes. "You __WOULD__ think that a flaw. But you are mistaken in one aspect, I think. Yes, I cared more for my own people at first - how could I not? The humans have suffered the most in this war, Power, and that is a simple fact. But the key phrase here is 'at first'. Humans learn, Power. Slowly, through pain, and loss, and suffering, but we do learn. I learned." His smile remained, but the mockery was gone from it; in its place was a certain ruefulness, a self-recrimination. "I was an idealistic child when the crystal that made our choices for us glowed for me. I hadn't ever thought that other people besides humans might have problems." Bitterness touched the smile now, too. "Oh, I learned."_

"_You learned, but not enough," the Power pointed out. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have walked into my trap."_

"_I knew it for what it was. I'm not that stupid."_

"_And you still came." The Power shook her head at him, scolding._

"_The lives of those people were more important than my freedom."_

_The Power sneered, and turned away to magically transport herself out of the chamber._

"_Power." She glanced over her shoulder. "My strength won't give way."_

"_Every living being has a breaking point, Prince. You'll reach yours soon enough."_

_The man paused thoughtfully, then shook his head. "No, I don't think so."_

_Driven to the human emotion of curiosity, the Power turned back. "And why is that?"_

_The man smiled, and this time it was a full, easy sort of smile. "Because I still have the one thing that's kept us going all these years, Power. I have hope."_

_The Power snickered. "Hope - peh. That concept is even more foolish than those other values you believe in so much. As for your 'us' – you are the last, fool. There's no one left who even knows you exist."_

_The man's smile widened. "Hope can be a fool's game, or the salvation of us all. I just have one. Hope, that is. I don't need any more." He leaned back in the stone chair and actually appeared to relax. "He'll come for you – THEY'LL come for you. And a day will come when you will regret locking me in this cage outside of time." His smile grew mocking. "Regret is what one feels when one's face is being ground into the dust, isn't it? I wouldn't know, but YOU would."_

_The Power went rigid with fury. "I will find this hope of yours." She hissed it slowly. "And I will crush it before your eyes."_

"_He," the Prince corrected, "not it." He smiled again. "My heir will destroy you, and he will tear down every last work of evil you have ever created in your false 'Balance'."_

"_We shall see." In a blaze of cold, black fire, the Power vanished._

"_Yes," the man said aloud musingly, "I suppose we shall." His gaze rested on a point in the room that seemed as empty as the rest of the place. "It's up to you now, messenger. Best hurry. The shields that protect this planet won't last much longer – they weren't intended to hold up for millennia instead of centuries, and the Go'auld are already in this."_

*end of dream*

Buffy jerked awake in London, grabbed a notepad by her bedside, and scribbled, "Go-Ah-Oold" on it. She then jerked to her feet and raced to the library, where she knew Willow would be doing an all-nighter to prepare for an exam at Oxford University. The redhead was taking classes there in her spare time for fun.

"WILLOW!!" she bellowed down the hallway as she ran down the stairs in her nightgown. "We've got an apocolypse coming!"

*beginning of dream – simultaneous to first dream*

I want to run away.

_*So why don't you?*_

I'd leave so much behind.

_*That's the point, isn't it?*_

Yes, but...

_*But what?*_

Not everything here is –

_*Terrible?*_

Yes.

_*There must be a way...*_

To what?

_*To keep the things that are okay, and get rid of everything else_.*

Nothing that's good lasts.

_*True_.*

Y'know, I thought you were supposed to cheer me up.

_*I'm your other self, not a miracle worker_.*

Gah. Go away, why don't you.

_*No use fighting me. Voices in your head always come back, you know_.*

So why don't you do something _useful_ besides bug me?

_*Like what?*_

Like....

_*No. That's the one thing I can't - won't - do_.*

Why not?

_*If I did that, do you know what would happen?*_

........

_*Do you?*_

If you won't do it, then never mind.

_*I asked you a question_.*

And I'm not answering it.

_*That still gives me an answer of sorts_.*

Shut up.

_*...You're going to do it, aren't you?*_

I said to shut up.

_*Hah. What are you going to do to stop me?*_

This.

_*Hey! Don't!*_

(quiet laughter)

_*You bastard. You really had me scared. What's_ WRONG _with you?*_

_You_ know that better than I do.

_*Huh. I meant _BESIDES _that_.*

I....

_*Don't know_.*

Finishing my sentences now?

_*Our sentences. We're the same_.*

Maybe.

_*What's _that _supposed to mean?*_

Nothing. Go away. I want to sleep.

_*Whatever. You're the boss.*_

Right. So shut up.

*(sigh) _You must be the only person in the world who can order around the voices in his head.*_

If I can order you around, then do as I say and let me get some rest.

_*Shutting up now.*_

Good.

_*Good night_.*

Good night. Now shut up.

_*I have.*_

Then why are you still talking?

_*I'm not. You're the one making all the noise now_.*

....I give up.

_*Good. It's about time_.*

Aargh.

*end of dream*

Xander woke with a jolt. As he lay flat on his back, he cursed silently in multiple tongues. He hadn't dreamed about his…childhood alternate personality in years; indeed, he had dared to hope that the persistent voice in that corner of his mind had finally faded away, leaving only the instincts Xander valued so much, though he should have known better. After being possessed by a hyena and a Vietnam War veteran, he REALLY should have known.

He hadn't thought about that particular conversation in a long while, either.

*_You're going to do it, aren't you?*_

It had been late when Xander had finally persuaded Jack and his companions to return to their hotel. Delighted as he was by the fact that he wasn't related to Tony Harris, it wasn't enough for Xander to invite five people associated with the United States military to sleep over at the Jenny Calender School for Gifted Girls – he wasn't ready to explain why the older teenagers were split into patrols through certain areas of the city that lasted until dawn. It had been hard enough to get the scientists to back off of why he'd known Teal'c was different, and even harder to get Jack to back down on his demands for information as to why a seven-year-old held daggers with such competency.

His cell phone began singing: it was the Foo Fighters' "Break-out." Xander snatched it up to his ear instantly. "Buffy?" Xander had chuckled when he'd first heard the song Buffy had chosen as her ringtone, then thought about it a moment and said "Hey!" in an indignant tone to her amusement.

"Slayer dream, Xan," Buffy said in a breathless tone, and Xander, who was still partly asleep till then, snapped to full alertness. Buffy didn't get Slayer dreams anymore unless they involved apocalypses.

"What's the what?"

"I need your Watcherettes to find anything they can on something called the 'Go-Ah-Oold.' It's the only real clue I got from the dream, that and some guy that was chained in a throne for several thousand years 'cause he pissed off some girl called Power."

Xander, who should have realized the instant his flashback to a childhood incident occurred that something wiggy was going down, groaned. "Ah, Buffy, about that…"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens. I HAVE decided that in keeping with my Xander's characterization in this story, he will not be included in any male slash pairing, period. That doesn't mean I won't be picking on someone else though…

Chapter 8: Explanations – Whether They're Wanted, Or Not

"So let me get this straight," Xander said, rubbing his temples to hold off another headache. "Some guy that's chained to a throne told you that some kind of shield that apparently covers the Earth is about to collapse, and the Go'auld are a part of it."

"Right," Buffy said briskly.

"And you think the woman threatening him in the dream was a Power-Pain-In-Our-Ass-That-Be."

"It makes sense," Buffy replied. "He called her Power the entire time."

"And she had black eyes like Willow does when she goes all Darth Willow."

"Right."

"Great," Xander muttered. "Just what we need – I thought Darth Willow was bad enough. Now we've got a Power-That-Be apparently on the side of evil."

"Uh-huh. So let me get THIS straight," Buffy said tiredly. "Your dad's not Tony Harris."

"Right."

"Instead, through artificial insemination by an alien, your dad is a colonel in the United States Air Force who's actually been working WITH one group of aliens in order to defeat the snake dudes, also known as the Go-Ah-Oold."

"Right."

There was silence for a long moment, then Buffy said, "Are you SURE you didn't eat anything funky in Africa, Xan?"

"I ate a lot of funky things in Africa, Buff, but not anything that could cause this kind of hallucination. Besides, Faith and Ari witnessed the entire meeting. Faith doesn't do drugs – ever." Both Xander and Buffy knew that Faith's mother, who had been a junky extraordinaire, was the cause of Faith's aversion to any kind of drug other than alcohol.

There was a loud sigh on the other end of the phone. "How do ya want to do this, Xan? I got an apocalypse coming, and the Go-oobers are a part of it – and after what you've told me, they're gonna be doing the attacking, not defending."

"We could always tell them about us," Xander suggested weakly. "Maybe if they know we save the world, too, they'll help us."

"Military poking its nose into demon affairs because aliens are invading, and they fight the aliens," Buffy said flatly. "Why does that sound like a really BAD idea?" She paused a moment, and added, "That whole phrase sounded really NUTS by itself, too, come to think of it."

"Umm…they fight the aliens, so they can't be all bad," Xander said, still weakly.

"He's YOUR dad, Xander," Buffy said suddenly in an over-bright tone.

"Now waitaminute!" Xander exclaimed. "I ain't 'splainin' this alone!"

"You got Faith, and you got Andrew for the witchy part of it," Buffy pointed out.

"But-but-but-"

"The military get along with you," she went on. "All the generals that have met me an' Wills hate us."

"Uh, Buff, that might be because you threatened their masculinity severely, and Willow turned two Army generals into rats for a week 'cause they called her a lying spy for the enemy – whoever the hell the enemy was that week."

"Exactly! You don't threaten them-"

"Thanks."

"I didn't mean it like that. It's that you don't have any superpowers, so they'll get along with you better."

"If they don't put me into a nice white jacket with too many sleeves and straps and send me away for an express holiday to Insane-Peeps-R-Us," Xander drawled.

"That's what Faith's for, and all your girls in Cleveland. Xan, my spidey senses tell me that dream had a time limit on it. We're on the clock. We need info, and we need it yesterday."

Xander looked at the clock. It was two in the morning – still a few hours before dawn. "Do ya want me to call them now?"

There was silence for a moment, then Buffy said, "Will says she found some references to the Go-oobers – and she found more stuff on some king or prince guy that cast shields all around the world. She's emailing 'em to you now. What-" Her voice cut off for a moment, and Xander heard Willow's babble in the background. "Will says that if the shields that were cast are still up, they'll only last for another two moon cycles."

"Is she SURE?" Xander stressed.

Willow's voice came over the phone. "I'm positive, Xan. The shield spell was actually listed by name in the reference I found to the alien dudes, so I pulled everything I could find on it, and I've got more Watcherettes still looking. The spells weren't meant to last this long, but the sacrifice of a powerful soul was what kept it powered for so long. Apparently, the only way for the spell to fail was if that soul disappeared from this universe entirely – which means we've got two problems. We've got something out there that can utterly destroy or somehow hide a soul from the magic of the universe, and we've got two months, then the shields come down – and whatever they were keeping out comes in."

Xander swallowed. "I'll call them tomorrow first thing. Make sure you get the President in on this – I don't have you here to threaten them with memory removal, Will."

"Got it," she answered softly. "Stay safe, Xander."

The phone was passed back to Buffy. "You get all of that?"

"Yeah," Xander answered. "I'll get my Watcherettes on it, and I'll call you as soon as I have anything."

Buffy sighed. "Working WITH instead of AROUND the military – this is gonna be interesting."

Xander thought about how Jack had reacted to the children he'd encountered, and winced as he realized what the man's probable reaction to teenagers fighting a war would be. "You have no idea, Buffy."

***

Xander had invited all of SG1 and Dr. Frasier to join them for breakfast. As they ate the good food with enthusiasm, they also watched in some puzzlement as most of the teenagers got ready to go to school.

"I thought this WAS a school," Daniel said blankly.

"We don't have enough qualified teachers for them to get their high school degrees," Xander explained quietly. "Some of them do home-schooling, but the majority goes to the public school that's two blocks away."

"Then why call yourselves a school for Gifted Girls?" Sam questioned sharply, still smarting from the dressing down Xander had given her.

" 'Gifted' refers to other abilities besides doing well academically," Xander said, still quietly, and groaned inwardly when the eyes of the two scientists immediately locked on him.

"This has something to do with how Ari knew Teal'c was different?" Daniel questioned.

"All of the girls here have the ability to sense things that aren't human," Xander said evenly. "It's stronger in others than some. Li and Faith are the strongest."

Jack leaned forward, his eyes narrowed intently. "And just how the hell would you know that ALL of them have this sense? Meet that many aliens?"

Xander smiled grimly. "No, not aliens."

"Then what?"

Xander looked at Faith, who was leaning casually against the doorway that led from the kitchen to the main living room. She smirked, and said, "Weapons' room, X?"

Xander nodded, and stood up, Ari rising from her own seat to join him. "Follow me," he said to the visitors. "You want to know what we teach, come on."

"Weapons' room?" Jack demanded, not moving.

Xander sighed. "I can explain the abilities of my girls to you here, Jack, but you're gonna think I need to pay a visit to the funny farm. It's easier if I have proof, which is why you need to come watch Faith and Ari."

The visitors followed Xander down a flight of stairs to a door that was locked with an electronic thumbprint pad. Xander pressed his thumb into it, and there was a click that signified the door was unlocked.

"You need that much security, kid?" Jack asked, realizing they were walking into something big.

"This is just the peripheral security," Xander said quietly, leading them down another flight of stairs. "There's a lot you can't see." Willow and Andrew's wards and protection spells were some of them – the stairway was thick with them. Any demon or vampire that had managed to get past the thumbprint lock – which was also enspelled – would be shot down in this staircase. Xander didn't think it was prudent to tell his visitors this yet.

They reached another door, and this time Xander stood aside and Faith swung it open.

Jack and Sam both whistled. "This HAS to be illegal," Sam said, looking around at the walls, which were covered in weapons of all kinds – battle axes, knives, swords, scythes, whips, and bows – as well as a great deal of defensive equipment such as shields and actual armor. Everyone present knew enough about weapons to know that nothing displayed was fake.

"Actually, no," Xander said mildly. "Everything here is at least two hundred years old. They're antiques."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Some antiques," he muttered, eyeing the swords that hung nearby, his fingers itching to test the edge on the blades.

Faith strode over to a table that had several scraps of metal piled on it. "Standard demo, X?" she asked.

Xander smiled crookedly. "Let me spit out the Slayer Spiel first." He turned to Daniel. "Ever heard of Diana's Chosen?"

Daniel frowned a moment, then said, "Women, supposedly chosen by the goddess, that had supernatural strength and fought demons?"

Xander nodded. "That's about the size of it."

Jack got it first. "You gotta be kiddin' me," he said in disbelief. "You think your girls are some kinda 'chosen ones'?"

Xander's crooked smile didn't falter. "Not think, know. Faith?"

The Dark Slayer picked up a large, cast-iron bar and brought it over to the staring group. "Test it, someone," she said. "Tell me what it is."

After a moment, Teal'c took the bar from her. "It is cold iron."

"Sure?"

Teal'c curled his large, strong hands around the bar and squeezed, then pulled. "Yes."

Faith accepted it back, then proceeded to twist the bar into a sailor's double knot, before dropping the iron, which steaming from being forced into such a shape.

Sam swallowed, then said, "So you've got extra strength. There are documented cases of people who could kick through steels plates and-"

"Ari," Xander said quietly. The African child retrieved a steel rod from the table and held it out to Teal'c expectantly.

The black man took it, repeated his own test, pushing his own strength more this time. "It is steel," he said finally.

Ari accepted it back, and mimicked what Faith had just done, dropping her own steaming hunk of metal to the floor beside Faith's. Faith's actions had been impressive; watching a seven-year-old do the exact same thing made all of the visitors stare with wide eyes.

There was silence for a long moment, then Dr. Frasier questioned, "ALL of the girls that live here can do that?" gesturing at the steaming knots of metal.

"All of them," Xander agreed. "The N.I.D. got ahold of a couple of 'em two years ago. We busted them out, and got out of the city they were based in, after destroying all the records the bastards had made, but they're still looking for those two. They don't know the SWIC protects more than just two superpowered girls, and we'd like to keep it that way." All of the visitors nodded wordlessly in response to THAT comment; they knew what would happen if word got out that there were so many girls with these abilities. Lab rats would be the least of what would happen to them – if they were lucky.

"Wait a minute," Daniel said suddenly. "According to the legend of Diana's chosen ones, there was only one at a time. When one died, the next one was 'called,' or empowered with the abilities of her predecessor."

Xander winced, and Faith snickered. "Ha. You didn't get out of the Shpiel after all," she said, mocking the word.

"Shut up, Faith," Xander sighed. "Wish I had a British accent. It sounds so much more impressive when one of our Brits says it, for some reason."

"We're waiting, kid," Jack said pointedly.

"This world is older than any of you know. And contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the earth and made it their home, their hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality and the way was made for mortal animals, for man; all that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magics, and certain creatures," Xander intoned, then added, "A bunch of old British guys made that speech, not me."

Daniel stared in blatant disbelief at Xander. "Are you trying to tell us demons are real?"

Xander said, "Yeah, I am." When Daniel continued to stare in disbelief, Xander asked, "You fight aliens and creatures that can do artificial inseminations without getting near a female, and you don't believe that demons can exist?"

"All of those things have a scientific explanation; they can be defined and quantified," Sam said, her expression matching Daniel's. "You're talking about broomsticks and cauldrons and…and demons. Demons, in our experience with humans on other planets, have always been an alien race that used local superstitions to hide their existence."

"Better not let our personal Wicca hear you talk that way about broomsticks and cauldrons," Xander said humorously. "Wills turned the last two Army generals that tried to treat her like a medieval witch into rats for a week."

"You've got to be kidding me," Jack said, his tone matching that of his subordinates.

"Actually, I'm not about the rat thing." When they just stared, Xander sighed, and said, "Look, when the last demons were leaving Earth, one of them shared blood with a human. That human became the first vampire. That vampire shared blood with another human, and so on and so forth, and thus the vamps we know and hate were born. A few thousand years ago – you'd have to ask one of our Brits or Will for the earliest date on record – some human sorcerers decided to create a creature to battle the vampires who were, at that time, running wildly amuck."

Faith snickered. "You said 'amuck.'"

Xander rolled his eye. "Yes, Wesley and Giles have been bad influences on me. Do you want to finish, Faith?"

"Nah," she said in entirely too cheerful a tone. "You're pretty good at this."

Xander continued, this time his tone filled with suppressed disgust and anger, "These sorcerers took a virgin girl who had just 'become a woman' – in other words, just started her period, and sacrificed her to a bunch of demons, in return for the power to challenge the vampires. The demons raped and killed the girl. To fulfill their end of the bargain, said demons then caused her to be reborn – with superpowered strength and a ultra sixth sense to allow her to hunt demons, particularly vamps." Here Xander's expression turned contemptuous, and he recited, " 'Into every generation, a slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampire, to stop the spread of evil. As long as there have been vampires, there has been the slayer.' That was the phrase a little group called the Council used to defend their actions. The documentation we have on the Slayers is from them. For at least five thousand years, the Council has been watching for Slayers, and tracking those born with the potential. They took these 'Potentials' – sometimes by force, sometimes not – in and made sure they grew up with a trainer, someone they called a Watcher. The Coucil taught every Slayer for the past five thousand years to fight alone – because that no one else had the ability."

"That's ludicrous, and suicidal. One girl against thousands of these…creatures?" Sam asked in shock.

"The Council saw the Slayers as tools, means to an end. If they didn't like the way one Slayer worked, well…there was always a demon somewhere who was stronger. And once that girl was dead, they could mold her replacement as they pleased," Xander said, his tone still filled with bitterness. Then he smiled grimly. "That all changed roughly ten years ago. The current Slayer was killed by a vampire master – that's a vampire that's powerful enough to create more of it's own kind," he added. "This master had also been killing off known Potentials, so there was very little choice in where the Slayer power would next awaken. Buffy Summers was Called." Everyone heard the capital letter.

"Buffy had never been identified as a Potential, so she hadn't grown up under the Council's thumb; she'd grown up with a loving mother. She was a cheerleader, and very popular. Her Calling was not welcomed, but she learned to fight in her home town under the direction of the Watcher who found her, and slew the master who killed her predecessor. Unfortunately, in the process her Watcher was killed, and she was forced to burn down her high school gym to kill over a dozen vampires she'd trapped inside. She couldn't tell the authorities WHY she'd done it, of course; she, her mother, and her sister relocated to Sunnydale, California during my sophmore year of high school." Xander raked a hand through his hair, and sighed. "A lot of stuff went down that year. I befriended Buffy after eavesdropping on a conversation she was having with her new Watcher, Rupert Giles, our high school librarion. What's relevant to the explanation I'm giving you now is this: Buffy battled a vampire that was simply called THE Master; pretentious bastard," Xander muttered. "There was a prophecy that stated the Slayer to battle The Master would drown. The prophecy came true, but it was made roughly six hundred years ago; people hadn't heard of CPR. I managed to bring Buffy back, but she was legally dead for about two minutes – enough for another Slayer to be called. When Buffy woke, she still had all her powers, but so did another girl – the Slayer line had been split."

"That's still just two Slayers," Dr. Frasier pointed out.

"I'm getting there. Several years later, after a lot of shit I'm not going into now 'cause it's not your business, Sunnydale became a sinkhole. Do you know why?"

"There was some explanation spouted about fracture lines and such," Sam said, her eyes narrowed. "The story didn't hold up well, but it was all that was given. You're telling us…what?"

"Do you know what the Spanish settlers that originally founded Sunnydale called it? 'La Boca del Inferno.'"

"The Mouth of Hell?" Daniel muttered.

"Hellmouths exist worldwide – they are, and I quote, 'a central nexus of negative magical energy that is particularly attactive to all sorts of foul creatures, demons, vampires, and the like.' Basically, it's an area with a hella lot of bad magic saturated into it, and the barriers between our realities and other are weak." The members of SG1 looked at each other, remember that damned mirror. "The Hellmouth in Sunnydale went hot – that is to say, it would have opened up into a full portal to all kinds of hells if Willow and Buffy hadn't found a way to stop it." Here Xander paused, remembering weeks of pain, suffering…death. Faith placed a hand on his shoulder, knowing what was going through his mind. "There was a demon that was killing off all the Potentials, and the Council wasn't helping; they were trying to save their own skins. The few Watchers that survived the attacks sent their Potentials to Buffy, as she was the longest living Slayer and stood the best chance of keeping them alive."

"Longest-lived?" Jack repeated, feeling horror begin to dawn.

"The average life-span of a Slayer, once called, was two to three years," Xander said bluntly. "Most of them never made it to eighteen, and those that did were considered extraordinarily strong, or extraordinarily lucky. Buffy made it to her twenty-first birthday because she had people helping her patrol for vamps – she had people watching her back and shielding her, unlike her predecessors." He swallowed, and continued, "When Sunnydale went hot, we had to find a way to close it. Willow did, but we knew that Buffy and…a couple of others weren't enough to hold back all the demons and vampires that were fighting to keep it open. She found the Scythe." Again, everyone heard the capital letters. "Willow is a hella strong witch, strong enough to destroy this world if she chose to. She chose to fight with Buffy. She cast a spell with the Scythe that awakened ALL the Potentials to full Slayer status. We had enough firepower on our side…barely." Xander closed his eye. "What we didn't realize was that the spell would awaken more than just the girls who'd been sent to us. The spell awakened EVERY Potential – every girl across the world with a capability of becoming a Slayer – and there's no way to reverse what we've done without human sacrifice, or opening another Hellmouth fully – which we won't do, ever. In the middle of all this shit, the headquarters of the Council that had been such a pain in our asses about us helping Buffy was hit by a very ordinary terrorist bomb, and the majority of the leaders were killed – leaving us in charge of a really big group of superpowered teenagers. That was when we decided to form the SWIC – the letters stand for the Slayer and Watcher International Council."

There was a long silence. Sam and Jack were still staring in disbelief; Teal'c was stoic, but his gaze rested on the twisted hunks of metal thoughtfully. Dr. Frasier's expression was carefully schooled into neutrality; Xander couldn't tell what she was thinking. Daniel alone, of all of them, looked as though he might actually believe him, his expression a mixture of shock and horror as he looked from Ari to Faith.

Xander realized where Daniel's thoughts were heading when he saw the archaeologist staring at Ari. "There have been several instances, since the spell, where those called were either far younger or far older than puberty," he said quietly. "We don't know what causes it; there doesn't seem to be a pattern. Giles thinks part of it is due to envirnment; if a Potential is living in a place hazardous to her health, she'll awaken sooner." He placed a hand on Ari's shoulder; the African Slayer glanced up at him, then back at the visitors.

Jack said, "Say we believe you. Where's the proof?" Xander glanced toward the twisted hunks of metal with a raised eyebrow. "Where are the demons…the vampires?" he asked, having trouble saying the words.

Xander smiled crookedly again. "When the sun sets this evening, I'll take you patroling with me and Ari. There's a reason the school was built in THIS city, you know."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens. I HAVE decided that in keeping with my Xander's characterization in this story, he will not be included in any male slash pairing, period. That doesn't mean I won't be picking on someone else though…

Comments: Thanks to those that reviewed, and those that have placed me on their tracking. I am working very hard on characterization in this story, so if anyone sees anything strangely...off...please let me know.

Chapter 9: Killing Time

"What d'ya mean, 'there's a reason this school was built here'?" Jack demanded.

Xander sighed, and gestured for SG1 and Dr. Frasier to follow him out of the weapons' room. "C'mon, we've got time to kill before the girls get back from school and the sun sets." They did so with some reluctance, glancing back over their shoulders at the still-steaming hunks of metal. "When a Hellmouth decides to go nuclear, one of two things will happen. One: it opens fully, and there is a period of despair and chaos until Nature balances it out again. Case in point: ever heard of Sodom?"

Daniel's eyes widened. "That was a Hellmouth?"

"Yeah, so the Bible had a damn good reason to call a pit of darkness," Xander agreed. "According to the records we have from that time-"

"You have RECORDS of SODOM?!!" Daniel cried.

Xander sighed again. "They're Slayer records, Dr. Jackson. We can't release them to the public. We can, however," he added, seeing the desperate lust for knowledge on the man's face, "allow you to read them, although the language they're written in is very dead. As long as you sign a confidentiality agreement stating you will not reveal any knowledge you gain from those records, I'll tell G-man and Will that you're all right."

"G-man?" Teal'c questioned, using the nickname in an uncertain tone. "Is that a title of which I do not comprehend the meaning?"

Xander grinned. "Naw, it's just a nickname I have for Giles – that's Rupert Giles, Head Watcher of the SWIC and Buffy's personal Watcher. He hates it," he said in a smug tone.

Jack couldn't help but grin. "So you use this nickname a lot."

Xander grinned back. "Naturally."

The group came back into the kitchen, and all of them sat down. "You said one of two things," Sam said, her stare intent on Xander. "What was the other?"

Xander rubbed the back of his head. "There have been two circumstances documented where a Slayer sacrificed her life, and the power of that sacrifice closed down the relevant Hellmouth. However, there's a downside to that: all the negative power that's left over has to GO somewhere."

"Another Hellmouth appears," Daniel assumed.

"Right," Xander agreed. "Not open, not by a long shot, but since demons and vampires that want to plunge the world into chaos tend to congregate towards these areas…" His voice trailed off as grim understanding crossed all of their faces.

Dr. Frasier stared. "Are you saying that Cleveland…?"

"There are four active Hellmouths worldwide. Cleveland is the one that's the hottest. In a city of this size, the loss of life that would occur if this place went nuclear would be catastrophic – which is why the only Slayer capable of going head-to-head with Buffy is stationed here," Xander said, glancing at Faith.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "You're saying that Buffy Summers is the strongest Slayer alive. Why isn't SHE here?"

Xander heard the accusation and glared. "Buffy has a younger sister to watch over, and a sperm donor-" Jack winced at his phrasing, "that's currently in Spain living with his secretary. Her mom's dead, and Giles is the closest thing to a real father that she has. Giles lives in London; the second Slayer school is also there, and Buffy heads it up. It's also better for her to be in Europe, as the majority of the REALLY bad demons seem to be there right now." He smirked suddenly. "Buffy is a tiny blond cheerleader in appearance. The demons fear her less than they fear Faith, even with Buffy's actions being well-known in the preternatural world."

"Why do they fear Ms. Faith?" Teal'c asked. He was already partially certain of the answer, but wanted to hear it from Xander.

"The demons call Faith the Dark Slayer," Xander said, still smirking, as Faith rolled her eyes and went rummaging in the fridge. "She's made a point of following through with her threats when she issues them to demons and vamps. Need I explain to you that our Faith is quite the creative young woman?"

Jack's eyes narrowed further, and he shook his head while looking the woman over more slowly. She saw the judging look, and her lips curled back in a grin that showed all of her teeth. She left off digging through the fridge, and sauntered back to Xander, curling up in his lap. "Xan-toy, you haven't told them what YOUR nicknames among the demons are."

Jack cocked his head, very interested, as Xander turned a deep shade of red. "Do tell," he said encouragingly.

"Do NOT," Xander said strongly before Faith could open her mouth. "I LOATH one of the two, Faith, and you know why. Fucking Deadboy," he growled under his breath.

"Now Xan, fair's fair," Faith crooned, and turned back to the watching SG1. "In a lot of prophecies written, Xander's called the One Who Sees."

"You've been mentioned by name in prophecies?" Daniel asked, fascinated.

Xander made a face. "NO, the title has been mentioned. I just got stuck with the damn name because of a fluke, and because I was one of the original Scoobies, and shit like that ALWAYS happens to us."

"Scoobies?" Frasier questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Like ScoobyDoo?"

"Exactly," Xander agreed. "We needed a nickname for the group we'd formed on the Sunnydale Hellmouth – which consisted of me, Wills, Buffy, Giles, Spike some of the time, and a few others. I picked Scoobies because I'd been watching the cartoon that morning and we were arguing over which of us was like what character, and well…it stuck." A slightly sheepish look crossed his face, but only slightly.

Jack was amused, as Sam muttered, "He is definitely related to you, sir."

"A second nickname was mentioned," Teal'c observed.

"Which will NOT be discussed because it's a pain in my ass," Xander said emphatically, glaring at Faith in warning.

Faith merely smiled, and mouthed 'later' to the SG1.

Dr. Frasier had been studying Xander intently for quite some time, ever since they had walked down to the weapons' room. Xander, wanting to divert the subject, asked, "Why've you been staring? I mean, I know I'm drop-dead gorgeous and all…" Faith swatted him on the shoulder, and he grimaced. "Owww," he complained. "What was that for?"

Dr. Frasier looked amused for a moment before sobering. She glance at Jack, then said, "I was given access to the medical records kept during your childhood," she said softly.

Xander stiffened.

Janet kept her voice calm and her expression professional. "Have you had scans about your bone density and the state of your internal organs? With as many times as you were in the hospital, there might be damage that is long-term that wouldn't be picked up by a normal doctor without those scans – and they would have to be deep ones."

Jack watched intently as Xander looked at Faith. The Dark Slayer met his gaze somberly, then slid off his lap and left the room. Ari, who had been eerily silent the entire time, shifted to stand pressed into Xander's side, frowning at the look on her chosen Watcher's face.

"I haven't had any medical scans done by human doctors, no," Xander answered evenly enough, but the others immediately saw what he wasn't saying.

"So you've…what? Gotten some demon to give you a hand, or a claw? Your witch magic you up?" Jack asked.

Pain pulsed in Xander's temples once again, and he pressed his fingertips to them. Faith reappeared, holding a familiar blue bottle. "Called Red. She needs you, when yer done wi' them," Faith said briefly, handing him the bottle.

Xander sighed again. "I'm not going to be done with them for a while. Did she say anything about the President?" All of SG1 and Dr. Frasier stiffened.

"He'll call their, and I quote, 'top-secret air force base thingy only not 'cause it's in a mountain and not on an air field'."

Xander snickered. He opened the blue bottle, pulled out a pill, and swallowed it with a bit of water.

"What is that?" Dr. Frasier asked.

"Mystical shaman medicine that wasn't made by anyone that any doctor in his or her right mind would consider one of their league."

"Why are you taking it?" Sam asked, eyes narrowing on the bottle. If she could get her hands on one of those pills, she could do an analysis of its components – but Xander tucked said bottle into his pocket.

"Because it's mystical shaman medicine that WORKS," Xander said emphatically. "I trust the man that made the stuff, and I'll never run out of it because the bottle is enchanted too."

"But what do you need the medicine for?" Jack asked impatiently, worried.

"Migraines, mostly," Xander answered evasively. Jack scowled fearsomely at him, immediately sensing that there was quite a bit Xander wasn't saying.

"And?"

"Damn nosy, aren't you?" Xander grumbled.

"Damn straight. I'm waiting, Xander."

Xander scowled back. "There's a reason the 'One Who Sees' nickname stuck. I have this – power, magic, ability – whatever-the-fuck-you-want-to-call-it, that lets me see people's intentions. Sometimes their feelings, sometimes their thoughts, but mostly just their intentions in a particular instance. The migraines were getting increasingly worse after I found Ari, so she took me to see this tiny, skinny black man older than dirt, and he made the pills for me, and explained what was causing the pain. The migraines are a result of me not using the ability very often; the medicine eases the pain and doesn't hamper my focus or my reaction time. That's all I ask of it."

"This ability would be quite an advantage on the battlefield, XanderHarris. Are you not a warrior? Why do you choose not to use this skill on a steady basis?" Teal'c asked intently, and the rest of SG1 listened closely for the answer.

"The ability isn't much use against fledges – that's cannon fodder used by a vampire master, who operate solely on hunger and impulse. And I haven't hunted any big nasty demons since I found Ari, so I haven't had a reason to use the ability."

"Thus the migraines increased," Sam murmured. "You don't use it on humans?"

Xander stared at her like she'd sprouted a second head, or bright orange tentacles, or something equally weird. "HELL no. Demon's intentions are pretty straightforward – 'I'm going to enslave you, torture you, eat you, or any combination of the above three.' Human intentions are waaaaaay more complex, and I don't have the control needed to be able to tell EXACTLY what's going on in a human's intentions. I can't afford to rely on it outside of battle with nonhumans, so I just don't use it. The shaman told me eventually the medicine would ease the…power…into me and make using it easier, but that it would take several months of doses, and ample practice with demons in the mean time." Xander shrugged. "I'm surrounded in this school by angsty, hormone-filled teenage Slayers all willing to run around town killing the bad things to take out their frustrations, so I don't get a lot of chances for battle here."

"And you like being lazy," Faith added.

Xander said defensively, "Africa, Faith. Boiled scorpions' tails, Occar tentacles, Remuriam hunting, and running for my life from pissed off lion prides. Lazy is of the good."

Faith snickered, just as Jack and Daniel both exclaimed together, "Pissed-off lion prides?!"


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do. The witches from Charmed appear in this chapter; I don't own that t.v. show, either – I'm just borrowing them for this one chapter.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens. I HAVE decided that in keeping with my Xander's characterization in this story, he will not be included in any male slash pairing, period. That doesn't mean I won't be picking on someone else though…

Chapter 10: Better Take That Call

Faith left the room, muttering something under her breath that was incomprehensible to the rest of the people present.

A cell phone started chiming. Jack ignored the sound, staring at his son. Pissed-off lion prides?

Daniel rolled his eyes, reached into Jack's jacket, and pulled a cell phone out from an inner pocket. "I don't know why you keep the stupid thing if you're not going to answer it…" he muttered, flipping it open. "This is Dr. Jackson." Daniel's eyes went wide with shock, and he swallowed, catching everyone's attention. "Y-yes, sir." He passed the phone to Jack. "It's the President," he hissed, and Jack's own eyes widened.

"Sir?" he asked nervously, taking the phone.

"He's probably going to be a while," Xander said quietly to the others.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Xander sighed, and motioned for the others to follow him into a separate sitting room to allow Jack quiet. When they had, he began, "You've seen that the Slayers have super-powered strength and hyper sixth senses when it comes to nonhumans. Some of them also have psychic abilities – dreams that give them warnings of things that will happen soon, or things that are close by that they need to take care of. One of the biggest reasons Ari and Janie are so attached to me is that for both of them, I was the first person to tell them that the dreams were real. That they weren't going crazy, and yes, they were right about innocent people being in danger."

Fascinated, Sam asked, "Has anyone ever tried to measure these dreams? Is there a pattern as to how they appear, or a genetic disposition that a Slayer needs to have?"

"You have to have a genetic predisposition to be called as a Slayer in the first place, so I honestly don't know if that extends to the Slayer dreams as well. The only pattern Giles and Wills have been able to figure out is that the more action a Slayer sees, the more likely she is to develop the dream ability. Slayers, when first Called, rarely have the ability. Ari and Janie were exceptions to that rule." Xander brushed a hand through the small African's hair. She looked up at him with a small smile, and the others realized, to a small extent, just what Xander meant to her. To a seven-year-old child tormented by nightmares of demons and monsters, Xander's quiet acceptance of her must have made him a savior in her eyes. "The point to my bringing this up is that last night, Buffy had a Slayer dream. Her dreams started off mild, but now every time Buffy gets a Slayer dream, it is LITERALLY of apocalyptic proportions." He sighed, and muttered, "And it isn't even May."

"What does it not being May have to do with anything?" Daniel wanted to know.

"May is apocalypse season," Xander explained.

There was a short silence.

Teal'c spoke. "There is a particular…season for the end of the world?"

Xander nodded matter-of-factly. "Yep. Most of the demons, hellgods, evil wizards, and whatnot that want to plunge the world into a living hell seem to attack in May – it's this pattern me, Buff, and Wills noticed back in high school. 'Course, that last year in Sunnydale, there was a would-be apocalypse nearly every two weeks, but was because the Hellmouth had gone nuclear, and the friggin' First-" He stopped. "Never mind that. Back on topic: Buffy had a Slayer dream, and your Go-oobers-"

"Go'auld," Sam and Daniel corrected together.

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Like I was saying, your Go-oobers were mentioned. So Buffy called Wills, who called the Watcherettes, and they did the research thing, then Buff called at the friggin' buttcrack of this morning – like, two thirty or three or something – and we had this long conversation in which I told her about you guys-"

"You what?" shouted Janet, Sam, and Daniel in one breath. Teal'c didn't shout, but his spine snapped even more stiff than it already was.

"Chill, the President okayed it, and the cell phones we use are mojoed by Wills – nobody can hack into 'em and listen in. So Buffy told me to talk to you guys and get your help with the Go-oobers, 'cause whatever we're dealing with is gonna hit in two months, and the Go-oobers are coming with it."

"Our help as in just us, or does your Buffy want to deal with the entire SGC?" Jack asked from the doorway.

Xander glanced toward him. "President get you up to speed?"

"Yeah, he did. Xander, why not just tell us this on your own?"

Xander looked Jack squarely in the eyes. "Would you have believed me?"

Jack was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I honestly don't know. You've told us some pretty unbelievable shit so far kid, but you've had proof to back it up. Where's the proof about these dreams?"

"The reason the President jumps when we call him about Buffy's Slayer dreams is that one of the dreams she had saved his life directly," Xander said quietly. "We'd called the President's security detail a couple of days in advance, but they didn't take us seriously, so we sent a couple of girls to the…event just in case. A fifteen-year-old saved the President's life when a half-dozen trained Navy SEAL bodyguards were taken down."

Janet asked mildly, "And why didn't we hear about this? The others-" she inclined her head to the team, "may spend a great deal of their time off-planet, but I stay on base and on call. Surely the military would have heard of such a fiasco, if not the general public."

Xander smiled tightly. "The Secretary of Defense ordered a complete lockdown of all the information regarding the little party – at the SWIC's request. You'd have to call him regarding the details – and it would take you months, if not years, to get the clearance for the documentation."

"Why did the SWIC make that request?" Daniel asked. Xander just stared at him. A minute passed, the Daniel said sheepishly, "That was a stupid question, wasn't it?"

Xander very kindly did not respond to that. Instead, he said, "Ask the President some time just what it was that fifteen-year-old stopped." He focused on Jack. "Buffy's told me to deal with you guys how I want, and she'll back me up. I'm not sure yet how far I want to get involved with your program. Is it possible to have access to the program's data without dealing with anyone other than your guys and your commander?"

"It's possible. But kid," Jack sat down across from Xander and leaned forward. "if you've got information on a pending Go'auld attack, it involves the entire SGC. We've been fighting these bastards since the beginning – your SWIC just heard of 'em."

Xander did not back down. "Teenagers, Jack. My fighters are nearly all teenagers," he said shortly. "I'm not putting children in the way of friggin' ALIENS and GOVERNMENT COVER-UPS unless the world is REALLY in danger of ending."

Jack started to glare. "Listen kid, you don't know what you're dealing with. The Go'auld have massive fleets-"

"Which is WHY I want to get as much information as possible," Xander interrupted, his own patience beginning to wear thin. "The Slayers can't fight unless they know what they're up against, and the threat Buffy's dream described is WAY beyond the United States Military's ability to deal. If you want fighters that AREN'T locked up in some military testing facility as labrats-"

"Why the FUCK are thinking about sending children to fight these kinds of battles?" Jack snarled, the anger he'd been feeling boiling up. "It's not RIGHT! You claim to care about these kids by running these SCHOOLS, but you're going to send them to fight aliens and – and DEMONS that can destroy this world and the rest of the galaxy?! The Go-auld are monsters! They don't care who they torture and destroy, as long as-"

"No, it's not right," Xander snarled right back, cutting him off again. "But we don't have a CHOICE, Jack! Slayers _have_ to be trained, or they'll be killed. Didn't you hear what I said in the weapons' room? They're Called to fight evil! Being Called marks them as different, as stronger and faster and TASTIER PREY!" he shouted, and the eyes of them all widened. "Every vampire and demon worth its salt can sense a Slayer's presence, and every evil vampire and demon will kill first and ask questions never! Slayers are genetically built to kill evil creatures, and the creatures know that! They've known that for thousands of years!" Xander was on his feet now, as was Ari, her eyes fierce and ready. She may not have understood the majority of Xander's words, but she understood the anger in his tone well enough. "You want us to keep children off the battlefield," Xander said, his voice quieting, "But if we do that, the children won't learn to fight. They'll be left as helpless prey to the creatures they were created to destroy." Xander's lip curled bitterly. "Which would leave you with what you wanted Jack – innocent children, but they would be dead children as well in a very short span of time. The demons on this world have ready access to the humans, unlike your aliens."

There was a long silence following Xander's outburst.

Daniel, who of all of them had watched the emotions on Xander's face during his shouting the closest, finally said quietly, "You hate the idea of sending children into battle as much as we do."

"Yes," Xander agreed heavily, and pain filled his expression for a moment. "I told you, about the spell Willow cast to awaken the Slayers. I was the one who had to command those new baby Slayers in that first battle." Anguish filled his tone, but his words remained steady. "I was the one who told all those rookies what they were and why they were there, and when they watched their fellow sister Slayers have their guts spilled by claws and fangs, I was the one who kept telling them to fight the good fight." SG1 and Janet took in the raw, wounded look on Xander's face, and none of them were able to find any words to say. "I was living with all of those girls for weeks prior to that battle, Jack. I listened to them gossip and giggle together and fight over the bathroom, and talk about their dreams. When Sunnydale went down, I hand-carved a grave marker for each girl we lost."

"How many?" Jack asked, finally understanding the despair in Xander's outburst. This wasn't the guilt of a person who had stood on the sidelines and felt bad – this was a commander's guilt for sending rookies that had no idea of the realities of war into battle. Jack had felt that kind of guilt – knew how soul-tearing it could be. For Xander to be suffering it because of children…

"Fourteen. That was more than half our forces, Jack. There were twenty-seven Potentials living with Buffy when Sunnydale finally became a crater. Those fourteen bought us the time we needed for Willow to finish the awakening spell, seal the Hellmouth, and let the rest of us get out of there alive." Xander sat down, the anger draining from him. "The ones that survived are here in Cleveland. We figured that trial by fire made them the best choice for guarding the next potential nuclear Hellmouth."

"Why didn't you send them farther away?" Sam whispered. "Why should they have to suffer more?"

"The genetic predisposition to become a Slayer isn't a common one," Xander muttered. "Every Slayer we find is precious and desperately needed. Ever since Sunnydale went down, the measurements of evil creatures becoming active in human-populated zones have sky-rocketed. The SWIC is containing them, for now. The Slayer dream Buffy had told us that in two months' time, a magical shield that has surrounded the Earth for several thousand years is going to come down. There's nothing we can do to stop it, and there's no way for us to recast it. When that shield comes down, it will leave the Earth vulnerable not only to the Go'auld, but to the demons that live on the worlds other than earth in this universe – the worlds that have no Slayers, and thus have had nothing to keep them from growing more powerful through the eons."

This time the silence stretched even longer, as SG1 finally began to understand just why the SWIC might be worried about a potential Go'auld invasion. It wasn't that particular race of aliens that was bothering them – it was what would follow.

A sudden jangling of a house phone ringing had all of them jerking in surprise. Faith cam into the room, talking on the cordless. "Yeah…yeah…here he is." She handed the phone to Xander. "It's B." She looked over the shell-shocked SG1 carefully, having overheard the majority of Xander's outburst. All of them looked as though…they didn't know what to think. Well, they'd see for themselves soon enough.

"Yeah…all right…what about my girls? Okay…all right, I'm coming. Got the portal ready?...See you." Xander hung up, his expression grim.

"What?" Jack demanded.

"My sisters need me in London," Xander said shortly. "A demon's trying to resurrect his dead master, and if that happens we'll have another apocalypse on our hands. I've got to head up the Watchers there – Giles is stuck in the field with Buffy and no one else knows

how to deal with this many problems all at once. Tell Andrew he's Watcher stand-in if the girls need anything," he said to Faith, who raised her eyebrows but nodded silently. She wasn't going to question Xander's choice in front of the visitors, though she did wonder what he was thinking, giving the geek that much power, even if it was only temporary.

Xander saw her look. "He knows enough, Faith," he said quietly, then looked at Ari, "My sisters need me in another place. I need you to stay here. The one I place in charge does not have the skills that I do. He will need a protector," he said in her tongue.

"I am YOUR protector," she said softly.

"The First Slayer is one of my sisters," Xander reminded her, still speaking the African tongue. "I will have warriors at my side. I will not be fighting, but looking for information for the fighters to use."

Ari's lips tightened, then slowly she nodded.

Xander walked out of the room and up the stairs to his bedroom, where he began throwing a spare set of clothing and some toiletries into a bag.

"Hold up kid, what's going on?" Jack demanded, having followed him.

"Willow's going to open a magical portal between London and here to let me get to their school," Xander said shortly. "I'm the only Watcher with enough experience to handle the chaos they've got over there right now. We'll have to finish our oh-so-lovely conversation another time."

"Waitaminute – there's an apocalypse going on in London RIGHT NOW?"

"It's going to hit apocalyptic level soon," Xander said, still shortly. He pulled a large, two-handed battle axe out from under his bed, and twin wooden stakes from under his pillow. The stakes went into his boots. He slung the axe over his shoulder, grabbed the bag, and moved to the doorway of his bedroom, which was blocked by Jack. "Move, Jack, I don't have the time!"

Jack moved, but followed him with sudden, sharp determination. "I'm coming with you!"

Xander stiffened. "What?"


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do. The witches from Charmed appear in this chapter; I don't own that t.v. show, either – I'm just borrowing them for this one chapter.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens. I HAVE decided that in keeping with my Xander's characterization in this story, he will not be included in any male slash pairing, period. That doesn't mean I won't be picking on someone else though…

Chapter 11: An Evening To Remember

"You're not coming."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Look, kid, if you don't take me I'll just have Thor beam me to wherever you are anyway!"

Xander stared for a moment, taken aback by the mention of the alien Jack had told him about, then pointed at the rest of SG1. "They're not coming."

"Yes, they are."

"No, they're not."

"Yes, they are."

"No!" Xander snapped. "The doc can come, we always need someone else to stitch wounds. The rest will be useless. YOU'LL be useless, Jack."

The rest of SG1, even Teal'c, cringed at the expression on the Air Force colonel's face following that comment.

Xander started pulling the small coffee table in the room away from the center of it. Ari came forward, grabbed a side, and lifted the solid oak-and-thick glass creation clear off of the floor. Xander, showing with gestures, had her turn it sideways and walk out of the room with it, leaving a sizeable space in the middle of the room bare. Faith came into the room holding a small length of chain, to which was attached several valuable gemstones. She laid the chain stretched out along the floor.

"What-?" Sam began, when all of the stones began to glow. A beam of light erupted from each gemstone straight up into the air. The space between the beams shimmered, then began to glow as well, until all of the beams had solidified into a single glowing doorway. The light flared brighter for a moment, then seemed to shudder – then literally 'opened,' leaving a glowing outline that showed people of all ages and genders rushing about within the outline, most armed with various pointy weapons.

"Xander, thank god." A very harassed-looking woman, speaking with a British accent, stepped into the doorway, but didn't cross the threshold. "PLEASE could you tell the Slayers to stay out of the bloody library? We can't research how to kill the blasted things if they keep-"

"I got this, Mary. Siddown and take a breather," Xander said, gently cutting her off. He looked at Faith. "Close the door after me. I'll call you when I'm ready to come back." She nodded in understanding, and Xander turned to Jack. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

Jack looked at the glowing doorway and figured it couldn't be any worse than the Stargate. "Lead on, kid."

"Sir, I really don't think-" Sam began, eyeing the doorway with trepidation.

Jack cut her off. "I ain't letting him go alone, Carter. I want you, Danny, and Teal'c to stay here until I get back."

"That might be more than a day," Xander warned.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Then I guess your Faith'll just have to find 'em some couches, won't she."

Xander looked from Jack, to Faith, to the rest of the SG1 team, back to Faith, then back to Jack. "If they piss her off, I'm not responsible," he said emphatically.

Jack opened his mouth to question that statement, when the British woman cut in with an impatient, "Xander, PLEASE."

Xander gestured at Janet. "Ladies first."

The doctor raised a cool eyebrow, hearing the challenge in his tone. The Cajun straightened her shoulders, and walked through the glowing doorway without any hesitation. On the other side, the rest of the team saw her shiver. "That was…odd," she commented.

Xander looked at Jack, who shrugged, walked through…and promptly turned an unattractive shade of green, pressing a hand to his head. "Shit, kid, ya coulda warned me," he groaned.

"Colonel?" Janet asked, concerned.

"Oops," Xander said mildly. "Sometimes Willow's magic has that effect on people. Don't worry, the motion sickness and the headache'll wear off in an hour or so." He started to step through the doorway.

"X."

Xander glanced at Faith inquiringly.

"On the hour," she said firmly. Xander nodded, and stepping through the magical doorway into the central inner sanctum – the one the public would never see – of the London Slayer School.

"Clear," he called, and Faith bent down and simply picked up the length of chain. Shifting the gemstones caused the doorway to seemingly crumble and vanish, the images of Xander, Jack, and Janet vanishing with it.

Faith looked at the remaining members of the team. Sam was staring at the length of chain with a hungry look on her face. Daniel looked worried, but his gaze kept straying to an open door nearby – which so happened to lead to the main library of the Cleveland School. Teal'c was as calm as ever.

Faith sighed and raked a hand through her hair. "If X an' them ain't back by tonight, I'll take you on patrol wi' me and a coupla the girls," she told them roughly, catching their attention. "'M a bad hostess. Find somethin' to entertain y'selves with 'til then."

***

Xander stood for a moment observing the chaos in the large chamber of a room. Then he drew in a deep breath and belted out, in a parade-ground roar that would have made the nastiest, most grizzled old drill sergeants at the SGC proud, "PIRATES!!! NINJAS!!! FRONT 'N CENTER!!!"

There was a stampede of feet dashing towards Xander and his companions. In an instant, they were surrounded not only by babbling teenage girls, but by several college-age girls and boys as well as two older adults.

Xander put two fingers in his mouth and gave the same piercing whistle he'd used to bring the girls at Cleveland to order. Silence fell. Sharply, he said, "Demon, shielding, weapons, wounded."

"Fire demons from the third hell dimension."

"Marianne's coven is shielding the city from the plagues they're trying to call up."

"Silver would kill 'em if we could get friggin' CLOSE enough. They're magic wielders."

"Three Slayers, two Watcherettes, and nearly half the coven in the infirmary."

After listening to the answers that had been spouted off one after the other with almost no space between them, Xander asked, "Plagues as in literal, Bible-plagues, or just their personal brand?"

"Literal," he was told. "That's why we're having such a hard time getting close to 'em. They've been practicing magic for over two thousand years. Willow's duking it out with the big boss, but all his lackeys are trying to hit the school."

"Are they morons?" Xander asked in a blank tone, then waved his hand. "Don't answer that. Okay, so we need more mojo, and more back-up to keep the mojo peoples safe." He jerked his thumb at Janet. "Someone get her to the infirmary, she's a doc."

"Magic?"

"Nah, just med school. She's good, I'm vouching for her. Let 'er deal with any physical wounds you get comin' in."

The teen that had questioned Janet's abilities nodded, and took Janet's arm. "This way."

Jack watched them hurry off, then began, "Xander…"

"Not now, Jack," Xander said absently. He had his cell phone to his ear. "Paige! My lovely, wonderful, totally awesome friend, how are…What do you mean, 'what do I want?' Can't I just call one of my favorite ladies and shower compliments and praise down upon her?" He listened for a moment, then laughed heartily. "Okay, you got me. I know, I'm sorry it's late there, but I could REALLY use you and your sisters' help in London right now," Xander said in an overly-sweet, pleading tone. He listened some more, then said, "Champagne and lobster and steak and NO DEMONS, I swear. If I have to get every Slayer in Cleveland to help, I will." He let out a sigh of relief. "THANK YOU, Paige. I'll have one of the girls get the gate…You sure? Okay, I'll clear it now." He grabbed Jack by the elbow and hauled him off of what Jack was just then realizing a raised platform that contained lengths of chain similar to the one they had just used to transport themselves there.

A brilliant flare of purely white light appeared in the form of three glowing orbs that coalesced into three lovely women. Gasps ran through some of the teenagers standing behind Jack, and he heard someone mutter, "The Charmed Ones," in an awed tone.

"Ladies, you are a beautiful and awesome sight as always," Xander greeted them enthusiastically. "We've got fire demons trying to bring the plagues of Egypt down on us."

"Literally?" one of them asked. Xander nodded his agreement.

"Shit," another, a pretty redhead, said with feeling. "Your coven must be on its last legs."

"We'll get to work. We'll holler when we've got the magic bit restrained. Your Slayers'll have to take it from there," the third said.

Xander pointed upward. "Coven's shielded room is second on the left, second floor."

They nodded, and the redhead grabbed the hands of the other two. They dissolved into glowing orbs of light once more, and shot upward through the ceiling.

Jack couldn't help but gape. "Xander, what-"

"Paige is half witch, half whitelighter," Xander said absently. "I really gotta get her to teach Willow that trick, it's SO much easier on the stomach than Willow's teleportation. Jack, look, why don't you just sit down-" he looked around, "over there?" He pointed to a sofa that was miraculously not occupied by babbling teenagers OR anyone else. "I'm going to be busy for a while."

"But-" Jack said, then stopped as he realized Xander wasn't listening. The younger man had turned to a group of teens – Slayers, he realized – and was discussing what silver-lined weapons they had on them. As he looked around further, he began to feel just a bit overwhelmed, and he realized that tagging along after Xander might not have been a smart move after all.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: SG-1 or BTVS/ATS. All of the people that own those shows make far more money than I do. The witches from Charmed appear in this chapter; I don't own that t.v. show, either – I'm just borrowing them for this one chapter.

Warnings: Discussions of child abuse and sexual abuse. Foul language – it's Jack O'Neill, people. Hurray for canon slash with Willow; I haven't decided if I will include male slash in here as well; I'll change the warnings per chapter if that happens. I HAVE decided that in keeping with my Xander's characterization in this story, he will not be included in any male slash pairing, period. That doesn't mean I won't be picking on someone else though…

Chapter 12: He Gets That From Me

"Xander, who's he?"

Jack suddenly found himself the focus of at least two dozen pairs of curious eyes.

Xander hesitated, then said, "This is Jack O'Neill." Nothing further.

The British woman who'd greeted Xander at the magical doorway looked Jack over, and frowned. "He's military." The cool disapproval and underlying scorn in her tone had Jack's hackles rising rapidly.

"He's with me," Xander said sharply.

Instantly, Jack received seven beaming smiles from the teenage girls closest to him, and a brisk chorus of, "He's okay with us, then!"

"Pirates, get your tails to the outer wards," Xander directed. "When the demons figure out what Phoebe, Paige, and Piper are doing, they're going to be pissed. Silver-tipped arrows, ladies."

"Aye-aye, captain!" four of the seven girls chorused cheerfully, before grabbing crossbows and heading out of the chamber.

"Wards?" Jack asked.

"Ninjas, siddown wi' Jack and give him the 411 on the set-up here, yeah? I gotta see how far the Watcherettes have gotten." Xander turned to the older adults and the rest of the teens, saying, "Okay, we know what harms them. What brought them here, what magic amplifiers were used, how long has Will been on the battlefield, has she torn apart the summoning sight or can we fiddle with it…" Xander's voice trailed off as he strode away, the others around him answering questions as rapidly as he fired them off.

Jack found himself left alone with three wide-eyed, curious fifteen-year-olds. He stared at them, then asked with no little anger, "You're going to have to go out there and kill demons?"

"Not us – we're still Slayers-in-training," a brunette answered. "The Watchers don't let anyone under the age of sixteen fight in the field during apocalypses."

"Watchers?" Jack asked sharply.

The teenagers regarded him thoughtfully. A blond asked, "How much has Xander told you about…all of this?" gesturing at the general chaos in the room, which was slowly organizing as Xander split people into groups, sent others to rest, and sent still others to give back-up to those fighting outside.

"He gave me what he called the 'Slayer Spiel'," Jack said slowly.

"Ohhh," the third teen, another brunette, said knowingly. "You're a newbie."

"Come on, we'll answer your questions," the blond said, tugging on his arm.

Bemused, Jack followed the teens to the sofa Xander had pointed out previously. A brunette sat on either side of him while the blond retrieved a wooden chair from one of the tables that were scattered randomly throughout the chamber.

"First things first," the blond said briskly. "I'm Nessa, this is Aliane, and this is Penny – Penelope, really, but we never call her that. Nice to meet you…Mr. O'Neill, wasn't it?"

"It's Colonel O'Neill," Jack said quietly. "I'm with the U.S. Air Force."

The three teens blinked at him. Then Aliane said, "Either you did a lot of kissing up, or Xander actually likes you, which would be kinda rare considering you're military. He never brings military near the inner fold if he can help it, not after the last fiasco."

"How do you figure that? And what inner fold?" Jack wanted to know.

"Xander stood by and LAUGHED when Willow turned two Army generals into rats for a week," he was told. "He gets along with most of the President's staff okay, but military tends to treat him like he's useless, so he doesn't have much use for them."

"How in the hell would they get the impression he's useless?" Jack asked blankly, not having thought that once since he first encountered Xander.

"Xander's the only one in the inner fold without superpowers," Nessa explained. "He's an ordinary human."

"Inner fold," Jack repeated. "So, that's Buffy, and who else?"

"The inner fold is the upper Council: the ones that run the SWIC," Penny spoke up. "That's Xander, Buffy, Willow, Giles, Wesley, Angel, Spike, Faith – who'm I missing?"

"Cordelia, Gunn, Lorne, and Li's gonna be in sooner than later," Aliane finished.

Jack focused intently on the teens. "Okay, who are all those people? What are their jobs?"

"Buffy is the First Slayer." Capital letters clearly audible. "She gets final say on where Slayers are assigned once they reach full status. Willow Rosenburg oversees most of the major magical aspects of the SWIC, and she's in charge of all the techno-babble – like, the firewalls on our records and viruses and hacking and stuff. Rupert Giles is Head Watcher, Buffy's personal Watcher, and he handles the financial stuff. Wesley Windham-Price is Second Watcher; he handles day-to-day stuff for Watchers and oversees all the Watcher assignments."

Nessa picked up where Penny left off. "Angel and Spike are vampires with souls," she said point-blank. "They are the only two vampires in all the world that every Slayer on every continent has been instructed to NEVER stake – and to respect as a commander."

"Wait, wait," Jack said. "Slayers hunt vampires. Why are these two helping those that kill their own kind?"

"Angel and Spike have SOULS," Nessa repeated. "We've met them both, they're good people." She looked at her friends for confirmation, who nodded in agreement. "Spike is one of Xander's best friends, and Angel's in love with Buffy. THOSE two are so sweet together I get a massive toothache just thinking about it."

"Oh," Jack muttered. In love…that made more sense, sort of. There weren't many other emotions that would cause a man, err, vampire to fight with someone traditionally an enemy.

Aliane took up the last of the explanation. "If you came from Cleveland, you've met Faith. By her choice, she has no say in where Slayers are stationed, even though she's Second Slayer. However, of all the Hellmouths, Faith commands the most dangerous. And on Cleveland soil, Faith ALWAYS get final say on every decision made. Buffy can't override any command Faith gives if it deals with Cleveland." Jack thought of the formidable, dangerous woman he'd met, and nodded slowly. "Angel owns a little lawfirm called Wolfram and Hart; Charles Gunn runs it." Jack's eyes widened – even he knew of the infamous lawfirm which, now that he thought about it, had noticeably improved its reputation in the last five years or so.

"Cordelia Chase…" Aliane paused. "Cordelia is Xander's ex-girlfriend, and she is the scariest female it has ever been my honor and pleasure to meet," she said firmly, making Jack raise an eyebrow. "Cordelia is a half-demon Seer – she gets visions of bad guys for us Slayers to kill. She also runs Angel's private investigation agency. AND she's the one to go to if ya wanna meet someone higher up – like millionaires and movie stars and singers and stuff. She's got connections everywhere. Lorne is a green-skinned demon that works with Cordelia and Angel on a pretty regular basis – he's the SWIC's connection to the peaceful demons in the U.S. Not all of 'em are out for world domination, y'know, some of 'em just want to live their lives like any other normal person."

"I didn't know," Jack murmured. "Makes sense, though: just 'cause ya look a little different ain't no reason to call the witch hunt." All three girls beamed at him, making him ask, "What?"

"Now I know why Xander brought you," Nessa said in a satisfied tone. "You really are okay."

"Thanks," Jack said awkwardly. "So…what does Xander do in all this?"

"Xander finds Slayers. We don't know how he does it, Buffy and Willow don't know how he does it, but Xander is the best person the SWIC has at finding Slayers all over the world. He's Faith's Watcher when she lets him, and he's pretty much the only Watcher other than Giles who can work with Buffy on a regular basis. Ummm…" Nessa shrugged a little, not knowing how to say exactly what she wanted. "He's a teacher, a guide, a brother, an uncle, kind of a den mother whenever he stays at any of the schools for a length of time. And I think he's the only one that gets along with ALL of the other members of the SWIC."

Seeing Jack's inquiring look, Penny explained, "Buffy and Willow can't stand Cordelia, and vice versa. FAITH and Cordelia in the same room is stupid and cause for hiding in bomb shelters. Spike doesn't get along with anyone except Xander, Willow and maybe Faith. Angel and Spike DO NOT like each other in the least. Xander doesn't really get along with Angel that well, but he can be…relatively civil to him." The other two teens snorted. "He can," she protested.

"He calls Angel Deadboy," Nessa pointed out.

"He calls Giles G-man and the man of tweed," Penny replied. "Xander comes up with nicknames for those he likes to annoy. If he REALLY hated Angel, we'd all know." The others winced in some memory, and nodded.

"So Xander's a mediator," Jack summarized. He noted the 'Deadboy' nickname, and recalled something from earlier. "Hey, did…Angel give Xander a nickname? I heard him muttering curses in his direction when the topic came up."

All three teens snickered, then sobered. "How Xander got his nickname from Angel is a long story, and Xander needs to tell you," Aliane said quietly.

Jack tilted his head to the side, regarding the teenagers thoughtfully. Xander had clearly earned the girls' loyalty. "So how do you three know Xander? And what's with the 'ninjas and pirates' thing?"

Nessa chuckled. "Ah, the 'ninjas and pirates' thing is just nicknames the patrols come up with for each other."

"Patrols?" Jack asked.

"Whenever there isn't an apocalypse happening, patrols are sent through certain areas of the city from dusk until dawn," Nessa explained. "Usually around three, but no more than six Slayers, or Slayers-in-training patrol their given area. Y'know – stake the fledglings, watch out for the occasional demon. Keep the normal people safe from the things that really don't bother any of _us_, but could mean big trouble for an ignorant, normal human."

Jack nodded slowly, then asked, "So how come Xander can call on your two patrol groups? He's not in charge of the London school."

"Xander's not 'in charge' of any of the schools; I told you he goes wherever he's needed. And wherever he goes, there are patrols assigned especially to him to obey his specific instructions for whatever he's in town for. Usually the patrols consist of Slayers or Slayers-in-training that he found and gave the basics to. Xander found all three of us."

Just as Jack opened his mouth to ask more questions, a sudden booming noise echoed through the room. "What-?" he began, when Penny grabbed him and shoved him flat on the floor – just as a strong tremor ran through the entire room, knocking people, books, and weapons everywhere.

"Everyone alright?" Xander's voice rang through the chamber urgently. There was a general consensus of "_okay"_s called back.

Xander strode over to where Jack was climbing to his feet, wincing as pain ran through his knees. "Jack, I saw her shove you. Alright?"

"'M fine," Jack said. "What was that?"

"THAT," Xander sighed, "was the demons finding out that Phoebe, Paige, and Piper are blocking them from using their magic. That takes care of the plagues problem, but it doesn't stop the fire demons from using their natural abilities to attack. They're too fast for my girls' arrows; we need to get them in one area and-" He stopped, and stared at Jack. "Hey Jack, what did you say your specialty was again?"

"Demolitions," Jack said, coming alert.

Xander grinned gleefully at Jack's answer. "I do believe I could use your help with something."

"Uh-oh, Xander's thinking about bombs again," Nessa called out into the general crowd of people, and Jack was amused to see several people back away nervously.

Xander clapped Jack on the back. "Come on Jack, I've got some C4 with your name on it."

"Do I even want to know where you got that stuff from?" Jack wanted to know.

"Probably not," Xander said absently. "Hey Ninjas, one of you run upstairs and tell the Charmed Ones and the rest of the coven to coral the demons over by the old boathouse. Buffy wanted to knock that place down and enlarge the lake anyway." Grinning as gleefully as Xander, Nessa took off towards a staircase.

Jack raised an eyebrow at his son as Xander towed him towards another set of rooms connected to the main chamber. "Nice to see you got an appreciation for the fine art of blowing stuff up. No one else on my team seems to get it."

"Hey, I must get it from you," Xander said in a low voice with a laugh.


End file.
